title: Comparison of zn, cu, and fe content in hair and serum in alopecia areata patients with normal group.
abstract: Background. Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune condition, in which hair is lost from some areas of the body. Though its etiopathogenesis is not fully understood, there are claims that imbalance of trace elements may trigger the onset of AA, by distorting immune functions. In this study, we tried to investigate the relationship between AA and iron, zinc, and copper levels of serum and hair. Materials and Methods. Sixteen female patients with AA (14-40 years old) and 27 healthy female controls were enrolled in this study. Serum and hair level of iron, zinc, and copper were measured by flame emission spectroscopy. The resulting data was analyzed with SPSS15. Results. We did not detect a significant difference in the serum and hair level of iron, zinc, and copper between patients and controls. There was a significant correlation between serum and hair level of iron (r = 0.504,  P = 0.001), zinc (r = 0.684,  P = 0.0001), and copper (r = 0.759, P = 0.0001) in patients and controls. Discussion and Conclusion. According to this study, there was no statistically significant difference between trace elements among AA patients and controls. So the trace elements level in hair and serum may not be relevant to the immunologic dysfunction that exists in AA patients.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Dermatology Research Center, Dermatology Department, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ladan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dastgheib
authors.affiliation: Maternal-Fetal Medicine Research Center, Hafez Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Zohreh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mostafavi-Pour
authors.affiliation: Molecular Dermatology Research Center, Dermatology Department, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ahmad Adnan
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Abdorazagh
authors.affiliation: Recombinant Protein Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Khoshdel
authors.affiliation: Molecular Dermatology Research Center, Dermatology Department, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Maryam Sadat
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Sadati
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Iman
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ahrari
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Sajjad
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9256-2902
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahrari
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahsa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghavipisheh