[Autoimmunity in alopecia areata. An assessment in 100 patients]

The sera of 100 patients with varying degrees of alopecia areata were examined for the presence of circulating autoantibodies against nuclear, mitochondrial, reticulin-fibril, smooth muscle, parietal cell, thyroglobulin, and microsomal components. Furthermore, in all cases we measured the percentage of total T-lymphocytes, T-helper, and T-suppressor cells. Other diseases were also considered that could cause such antibodies. In addition, the assumption was examined as to whether or not the loss of suppressor cells correlates with the presence of autoantibodies. The incidence of autoantibodies mentioned was not found to be statistically higher in our study; most of the autoantibodies could be explained by other accompanying diseases. Only in the T-suppressor cells was there a significant decrease. Patients with autoantibodies showed no more deficit in T-suppressor cells than patients without autoantibodies.