A Study of Plasma Zinc Levels in Thais with Alopecia Areata

To study the correlation between the plasma zinc levels of Thai participants with alopecia areata (AA) and compare to the levels of Thais who do not have AA.

A cross-sectional study of thirty Thais with AA (case group) and thirty gender and age-matched healthy subjects (control group). All participants underwent blood tests measuring zinc and confounding factors.

Participants in both groups were the same gender, 20 (66.7%) women and 10 (33.3%) men. The median age was 37 in the study group and 38 in the control. In the study group, the median disease duration was three months (interquartile range 1-6). Patients who had AA for more than three months had a lower mean plasma zinc level than those who had AA for less than three months without statistical significance (58.33±8.59, 62.43±13.19 μg/dL (mean ± standard deviation or SD), respectively, p-value = 0.40). The correlation between plasma zinc levels and disease duration of AA (p-value = 0.31) and the plasma zinc levels and the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score (p-value = 0.16) were not statistically significant. The mean plasma zinc level in the study group was lower than in the control group with statistical significance (61.20±12.00, 67.17±10.04 μg/dL (mean ± SD), respectively, p-value = 0.04).

The plasma zinc level in participants with AA is statistically significantly lower than in participants without AA. A more in depth study should be conducted to determine whether prescribing zinc supplement would be of benefit to AA patients.