Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is the second most frequent nonscarring alopecia after
androgenetic alopecia; the trigger factor induces changes in the growth plate of hair bulb
and leads to premature termination of anagen phase. Epidermal growth factor (EGF) can
be the key molecule that participates in initiation and suppression of normal hair growth
cycle. The role of EGF in the pathogenesis of AA is still uncertain. Aim of the Work: This
aim is to estimate the serum level of EGF in patients with AA trying to detect its role in
AA pathogenesis and correlate it with the disease severity. Subjects and Methods: This
case–control study included 60 clinically diagnosed patients with AA with different variants
and severities and 25 age‑ and sex‑matched healthy controls. EGF level was measured
using ELISA. Results: The mean serum EGF was statistically significantly higher in patients
than of controls (P < 0.0003). The EGF level was higher in patients with disease duration >1
month than patients with disease duration ≤ 1 month, and it was higher in patients with
high recurrence than patients without recurrence (P > 0.05). The EGF in patients of severe
AA was statistically significantly higher than moderate AA patients, and moderate cases
were higher than mild AA patients (P = 0.0001). Furthermore, the level of EGF with scalp
involvement was higher; the highest serum level of EGF marker in S4 (75%-99%) hair loss
then S3 (50%-74% hair loss), illustrated in table (4) followed by different percentage of hair
loss, difference statistically significant. Conclusions: Elevated hair‑specific growth factor
as EGF is not always a good sign for hair growth and functioning promotor inducing hair
recovery, but it may be linked to the pathogenesis of hair disorders as AA. |
