title: [Treatment of alopecia areata: modern principles and perspectives].
abstract: Alopecia areata (AA) is a frequent disease with nonscarring hair loss on the scalp and/or body. Hair follicle in alopecia areata is not irreversibly destroyed, so potential for hair regrowth remains. Considering unknown etiopathogenesis, treatment of AA is symptomatic and directed toward halting disease activity. Lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate around hair follicle, increased levels of autoantibodies, cytokine abnormalities and increased prevalence of autoimmune comorbidities, support the hypothesis of AA as an organ-specific autoimmune disorder. Therefore, investigations are directed toward new immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive drugs with induction effect on hair growth. New biologic drugs and their influence on hair growth as well as genetic therapy for alopecia areata are currently under investigation. Contemporary principles in therapy of alopecia areata and treatments available will be discussed in this article.
authors.affiliation: Klinika za kozne i spolne bolesti Medicinskog fakulteta i KBC-a Rijeka. ibrajac@medri.hr
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Brajac
authors.forename: Marija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kastelan
authors.forename: Darinka
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perisa
authors.forename: Edita
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Simonić
authors.forename: Lilijana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stojnić-Sosa
authors.forename: Larisa Prpić
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Massari
mesh_terms: D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans