Serum Interleukin-15 in Alopecia Areata and Its Correlation with Dermoscopic Findings

Abstract

lopecia areata is a non-scarring autoimmune disease affecting hair follicles. It is seen commonly as patchy lesion of hair loss, and sometimes as extensive involvement of the whole scalp (AT) or whole body (AU). Still, there is a controversy about prediction of AA clinical course and variability of the response to treatment. Interleukin-15 is a cytokine that is involved in many inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Although AA is an autoimmune disease, serum levels of IL-15 have not been studied well in AA patients. Dermoscopy is used increasingly in dermatological practice. Although dermoscopic findings of alopecia areata (AA) are described in the literature, studies are limited. We aimed to evaluate the serum levels of IL-15 in alopecia areata and correlate them with disease severity and activity according to dermoscopic findings. The study enrolled 30 patients with different clinical variants of alopecia areata and 30 apparently healthy individuals of matched age and sex as a control group, all recruited from the Outpatient Clinic of Dermatology, Ain Shams University Hospital. Serum levels of IL-15 were measured using the ELISA technique. Dermoscopic examination was done using hand held dermlite DL3, 3Gen, United States of America.