Serum Interleukin-15 in Alopecia Areata and its correlation with dermoscopic findings

Abstract

Abstract Background Alopecia areata is an autoimmune hair loss which frequently starts in childhood. Its presentation had an extreme variability not only in the time of initial onset but also in the duration, extent, and pattern of hair loss during any given episode of active loss. Moreover, the course of disease is unpredictable, with spontaneous regrowth of hair occurring in 80% of patients within the first year and sudden relapse at any given time. Due to the clinical variability and unpredictable nature of spontaneous regrowth, diagnosis and management may be difficult and challenging. Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the serum levels of IL-15 in active alopecia areata and correlate them with disease severity and activity according to dermoscopic findings. Methods This case-control study were conducted in Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology department, Ain Shams University Hospitals included 30 patients with different clinical variants of AA, the diagnosis was made via clinical examination and dermoscopic findings. In addition, 30 apparently healthy individuals of matched age and sex as a control group were included in the study. Results Dermoscopic examination among cases showed that the most common dermoscopic findings in patients were vellus hair and yellow dots, while the least common finding was exclamation mark hairs. On comparing serum IL-15 in patients and control groups, it was found that serum levels of IL-15 in patients were significantly higher than those in the control group. There was no statistically significant difference in serum IL-15 levels between patients with negative and positive pull test, nail involvement, or body involvement. Similarly, no statistically significant difference in serum IL-15 levels in patients with various subjective disease activity was detected. However, there was a highly significant difference between serum IL-15 levels in different SALT score groups, with the highest levels being in the S3 group. There was a highly significant difference between IL-15 levels in patients with and without black dots. Also, there was significant difference between IL-15 in patients with and without broken hair, and exclamation mark hair. There was no significant difference in level of IL-15 among patients with and without yellow dots, and with and without vellus hair. Conclusion On the basis of the current study, we can conclude that IL-15 is significantly elevated in AA patients when compared to the control subjects. It is also a possible marker of AA severity. It is positively correlated with dermoscopic findings in AA patients, so dermoscopic findings can be useful in evaluating severity of alopecia areata.