Increased prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients with alopecia areata: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Journal of the European Academy Dermology and Venereology 6 April 2018, https://doi.org/10.1111/jdv.14987
S Lee B J Kim C H Lee W S Lee
- Spot Baldness (Alopecia Areata) associated with low vitamin D – many studies
- Search VitaminDWiki for alopecia areata 43 items as of April 2018
- Health problems that run in families are often associated with low vitamin D
- Topical Vitamin D evidence does not show that vitamin D deals with alopecia areata
- Vitamin D reduces hair loss - many studies
- Hair loss strongly associated with poor vitamin D receptors– Dec 2016
- Vitamin D reduces hair loss - many studies
- Alopecia areata Wikipedia
“Alopecia areata, also known as spot baldness, is a condition in which hair is lost from some or all areas of the body. Often it results in a few bald spots on the scalp, each about the size of a coin”
“Alopecia areata is believed to be an autoimmune disease. Risk factors include a family history of the condition. Among identical twins if one is affected the other has about a 50% chance of also being affected”
“There is no cure for the condition.”
“The condition affects 0.1%–0.2% of the population”
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Background
Alopecia areata (AA) is a hair follicle‐specific autoimmune disorder. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with various autoimmune disorders for its immunomodulatory effects. However, in previous studies, there had been inconsistent association found between AA and vitamin D deficiency.
Objective: To demonstrate the differences of the mean serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D level and prevalence of vitamin D deficiency between AA subjects and non‐AA controls.
Methods: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of observational studies on AA and serum vitamin D levels and/or prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was performed searching MEDLINE, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases.
Results
In all, 14 studies including a total of 1,255 AA subjects and 784 non‐AA control were analyzed. The mean serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D level was significantly lower in AA subjects (‐8.52 ng/dL; 95% confidential interval; ‐5.50 to ‐11.53). The subjects with AA had higher odds of vitamin D deficiency of vitamin D deficiency (odds of 3.55; 2.03 to 6.20, mean prevalence of 75.5%; 60.8 to 86.0%). However, it was difficult to find clear correlation between serum 25‐hydroxyvtamin D level and extent of hair loss in AA.
Conclusion
The AA subjects had lower serum 25‐hydroxyvitamin D level and vitamin D deficiency was highly prevalent compared to non‐AA controls. Hence, Vitamin D deficiency should be assessed in AA patients. Furthermore, nutritional supplementation of vitamin D or topical vitamin D analogues can be considered for AA patients with vitamin D deficiency. The limitation of this study is the highly heterogeneity of the included studies.