Expressional change of inflammatory cytokines and nociceptive mediators in patient with female pattern hair loss complaining about trichodynia

  • Hoon Kang, Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea
  • Kwang Hyun Choi, Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea
  • Jung Eun Kim, Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea
  • Young Min Park, Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea
  • Hyung Ok Kim, Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea

Objectives: Many women worrying about hair loss by themselves usually complain about trichodynia. We want to evaluate the relationship between hair loss and trichodynia through checking out the expressional changes of several inflammatory and nociceptive mediators.
Methods: Fifteen female pattern hair loss (FPHL) Korean patients (28-45 years) with M0F1 BASP type were enrolled. Tissue specimens were obtained by 4 mm punch skin biopsy from the suspected hair loss area. mRNA expressions of IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, TNF alpha, INF gamma, NGF, substance P and neurokinin-1(NK-1) receptor were determined by RT-PCR. These mediators were also checked in peripheral blood leukocytes. Eight scalp skin specimens were obtained from normal haired subjects during cosmetic surgery (22-53 years) as controls.
Results: The mRNA expression of substance P, NGF and NK-1 was significantly increased (p<0.1). Inflammatory cytokine TNF alpha and IL-6 mRNA levels were significantly higher as compared to controls (p<0.1). Although IL-2 mRNA was upregulated, it was no reached statistically significance. There were no mRNA expressional correlations between tissue and peripheral blood leukocytes.
Conclusions: Trichodynia induced expressional alteration of some inflammatory cytokines and nociceptive mediators in FPHL lesional skin. Its alteration not influences the peripheral blood gene expressions. Albeit trichodynia associated hair loss is still controversial, our study propose the possibility of its involvement into hair loss through nociceptive mediators.