title: Mathematical model for alopecia areata.
abstract: Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease, and its clinical phenotype is characterized by the formation of distinct hairless patterns on the scalp or other parts of the body. In most cases hair falls out in round patches. A well-established hypothesis for the pathogenesis of AA states that collapse of hair follicle immune privilege is one of the essential elements in disease development. To investigate the dynamics of alopecia areata, we develop a mathematical model that incorporates immune system components and hair follicle immune privilege agents whose involvement in AA has been confirmed in clinical studies and experimentally. We perform parameter sensitivity analysis in order to determine which inputs have the greatest effect on outcome variables. Our findings suggest that, among all processes reflected in the model, immune privilege guardians and the pro-inflammatory cytokine interferon-γ govern disease dynamics. These results agree with the immune privilege collapse hypothesis for the development of AA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, 208 Love Building, 1017 Academic Way, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA. Electronic address: adobreva@math.fsu.edu.
authors.forename: Atanaska
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dobreva
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Hair Research and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Dermatology, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Institute of Inflammation and Repair, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paus
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, 208 Love Building, 1017 Academic Way, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
authors.forename: N G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Cogan
mesh_terms: D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical
keywords: Autoimmunity; Hair loss; Immune privilege