Alopecia areata - hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is a myth?

Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV
B Bergler-CzopL Brzezińska-Wcisło

Abstract

Psychological stress is known to cause exacerbation of different skin pathologies including alopecia areata (AA). A hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (the HPA axis) in patients affected by AA (AA patients) was proposed to be a neuroendocrine response to stress. Still little is known about melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH) and cortisol production in AA settings. The aim of the study was to compare trends in a production of MSH and cortisol in patients with AA patients and healthy controls. Plasma concentrations of free cortisol and MSH were measured in 43 AA patients (35.5 ± 10.6 years) and 37 healthy subjects (35.9 ± 10.5 years) selected from the Dermatology Outpatient Clinic at Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland. Results were submitted to statistical analysis with Shapiro-Wilk W-test and subsequently nonparametric (Mann-Whitney U-test) or parametric (Student's t-test) statistics were performed. Mean plasma level of MSH was 5.39 ng/mL in AA patients and 5.71 ng/mL in healthy controls. The difference between groups was non-significant (P = 0.435), but the control group manifested higher values of MSH (Q75 = 13.6 ng/mL vs Q75 = 5.98 ng/mL) and this tendency was especially stronger in femal...Continue Reading

References

Mar 20, 1998·FASEB Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology·B RoloffR Paus
Jul 10, 2001·Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery·A Kimyai-Asadi, A Usman
Dec 15, 2004·European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology·Suhail A R DoiKamal A S Al-Shoumer
Jun 11, 2005·FASEB Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology·Natsuho ItoRalf Paus
Aug 30, 2005·European Journal of Pharmacology·Jens D MikkelsenNaheed Mirza
Nov 26, 2005·The British Journal of Dermatology·H L RichardsC E M Griffiths
Apr 12, 2008·Pituitary·Alberto Giacinto AmbrogioFrancesco Cavagnini
Apr 22, 2011·Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology·UNKNOWN NutanD Parsad
Apr 27, 2011·Dermato-endocrinology·Michal A Zmijewski, Andrzej T Slominski
Oct 19, 2011·International Journal of Dermatology·Philip D Shenefelt
Oct 24, 2013·Clinical & Developmental Immunology·Taisuke Ito
Jun 4, 2014·Experimental Dermatology·Andrzej T SlominskiRobert C Tuckey
Sep 12, 2015·Psychoneuroendocrinology·Angela C Incollingo RodriguezA Janet Tomiyama
Oct 20, 2015·Computers in Biology and Medicine·Hamed MalekJalal Zaringhalam
Nov 21, 2015·Stress : the International Journal on the Biology of Stress·Yuko NakamuraToshikazu Ikuta
Dec 25, 2016·Psychoneuroendocrinology·Jelle V ZornChristiaan H Vinkers

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Attention Disorders

Attention is involved in all cognitive activities, and attention disorders are reported in patients with various neurological diseases. Here are the latest discoveries pertaining to attention disorders.