Clinical significance of serum high-mobility group box 1 level in alopecia areata.
BACKGROUND
Alopecia areata (AA), a chronic, relapsing hair-loss disorder, is considered to be a T-cell-mediated autoimmune disease. High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), released by necrotic cells and in response to various inflammatory stimuli, is currently considered to be a significant target antigen in diverse autoimmune diseases.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to investigate the clinical significance of serum HMGB1 levels in AA.


METHODS
We compared levels of HMGB1 in scalp specimens from 7 patients with AA and 8 healthy control subjects and in blood samples from 45 patients with AA and 10 healthy control subjects. Moreover, we evaluated the correlation between HMGB1 level and clinical severity.


RESULTS
Immunohistochemical staining of scalp tissues from patients with AA revealed higher HMGB1 levels than in healthy control subjects. In addition, serum HMGB1 levels in the AA group were generally higher, and showed concordance with the patients' clinical characteristics, including onset, hair-pull test results, and treatment response.


CONCLUSIONS
The number of patients and healthy control subjects evaluated was small.


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that HMGB1 plays a significant role in the pathogenesis of AA, and that it is a promising predictor of prognosis and treatment response. Moreover, this study identifies a new potential therapeutic target for the treatment of AA.
Department of Dermatology, Research Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Young
Y
Lee
Department of Dermatology, Research Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Hae-Eul
HE
Lee
Department of Dermatology, Research Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Jung-Min
JM
Shin
Department of Dermatology, Research Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Kyung-Cheol
KC
Sohn
Department of Dermatology, Research Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Myung
M
Im
Department of Dermatology, Research Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Chang-Deok
CD
Kim
Department of Dermatology, Research Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Young-Joon
YJ
Seo
Department of Anatomy, Research Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea.
Young-Ho
YH
Lee
Department of Dermatology, Research Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea. Electronic address: jhoon@cnu.ac.kr.
Jeung-Hoon
JH
Lee
D000328:Adult; D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D024243:HMGB1 Protein / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
D024243:HMGB1 Protein
AA; HMGB1; IL; alopecia areata; autoimmune disease; high-mobility group box 1; high-mobility group box 1 protein; interleukin