Association Between Cytomegalovirus Infection and Alopecia Areata In Thi Qar Province. Iraq

Abstract

Alopecia areata (AA) is lost hair from a few or all regions of the body, for the most part from the scalp. Etiology and pathogenesis of alopecia areata being not totally comprehended, is accepted to be multifactorial in ancestry. Recently, studies suggested an association between alopecia and types of viruses, therefore we concerned to investigate the association between CMV infection and alopecia areata. This study included of 100 individuals (50 alopecia patients and 50 healthy). Mean age of study groups were 20.90 ± 11.07 and 22.64±12.29 years of cases and control group respectively. Mean of age onset of patients were 20.83 ± 10.0. Out of 50 patients 52% were male, the rest were female. However 1:1 of control group were male: female. 40% of patients had a positive family history for this disease. Alopecia areata affected on scalp in 78% of cases. All patients had a high concentration of CMV IgM. With treatment of oral ganciclovire drug, a decrease of anti-CMV IgM levels and an increase of CMV IgG levels were observed as an evidence of a previous viral infection