Background: Alopecia areata (AA) has been considered as an autoimmune disease due to an aberrant T cell response. It is often associated with various autoimmune diseases such as autoimmune thyroiditis.
Objective: Our purpose was to evaluate the prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in the Turkish patients with alopecia areata.
Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 307 patients with alopecia areata who presented to our clinic between 2004 and 2009. 307 patients (181 female and 126 male) with a mean age of 28.5 ± 13.8 years, were included into the study and triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxin (T4), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody (anti-TPO Ab) and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (anti-TG Ab) levels were evaluated.
Results: Increased basal TSH levels were present in 33 of the patients (10.7%) and decreased TSH levels were present in 6 patients (2%). Anti-TPO Ab was increased in 17 patients (5.5%).
Conclusion: Among 307 patients with alopecia areata, 5.5% of patients had microsomal antibodies which indicate the thyroid autoimmunity. The prevalence of thyroid autoimmunity in our alopecia areata patients was not significantly different from general population which ranged from 8% to 28%.