Imbalance of some Trace Elements and their Correction in Alopecia Areata

Іntroduction. Alopecia areata is the most frequent cause of inflammation-induced hair loss, affecting both children and adults and hair of all colors, but historically it has been more prevalent in the younger age groups. It is a recurrent, nonscarring hairloss considered to be an autoimmune process. Although alopecia areata is one of the most common autoimmune diseases, the pathobiology of disease is not fully understood, but there are claims that imbalance of trace elements may trigger the onset of this disease. The aim of the study was to assess the level of some trace elements in the hair of patients with alopecia areata and to propose some methods of correction of the identified deficiency. Materials and methods. In this study were enrolled 23 patients with single patches of hair loss and 1 with subtotal variety in the age from 20 up to 30 from the same two geographical zone, all of them were females. All patients were subjected to full history taking, all cases were clinically diagnosed as typical lesions of alopecia areata. The samples of the hair, approximately about 1 g, were obtained from 4-5 places of the occipital area of the scalp and studied by x-ray fluorescent spectrophotometer. Features of microelement status were based on the determination in the hair of 28 elements divided in three groups – essential (Ca, Zn, K, Fe, Cu, Mn, Cr), additional (S, Br, Cl, Co, Ag, V, Ni, Rb, Mo, Sr, Ti) and toxic (Ba, Pb, As, Hg, Cd, Sb, Zr, Sn, Bi). In accordance to the received data all patients were treated orally in order to correct the imbalance of trace elements and Chophitol, topically all of them were treated by mesotherapy method with soluble trace elements (Mesosystem S. A. and Mesoestetic (Spain)). Injections in the areas of hair loss were made once in 5 days and with physiotherapy -D'Arsonvalization with soluble trace elements (Labcatal) once a day during 10 days course. Results. The course of treatment was individual, the period of observation was within one year, but control visits each month. The therapeutic effects were evaluated through the extent of vellus hair and terminal hair regrowth on the scalp. We graded the therapeutic effects in four varieties: 1) marked recovery: cosmetic satisfaction or terminal hair regrowth of more than 60.0 % on the hair loss patch; 2) partial recovery: terminal hair regrowth less than 60.0 % on the hair loss patch and 3) poor recovery: only vellus hair regrowth on the hair loss patch; 4) no recovery. By the end of the first month of treatment in most patients (67.0 %) was observed abundant growth of lanugo, over the next three months – the growth of long pigmented and non-pigmented hair. In all the observed cases by the end of 3 months of treatment there was significant improvement, lesions decreased in size, the fuzz gave way to a growth of long hair, depigmented hair gave way to pigmented. In 89.0 % of cases the 4-5 month foci of alopecia was closed completely, in 11.0% of cases the complete closure of the lesions took another 2 months. Within one year observation no case of recurrent hair loss was fixed. Conclusions. The present study suggests that trace elements supplementation could become an adjuvant therapy for the AA patients with their low levels and for whom the traditional therapeutic methods have been unsuccessful. Mesotherapy with its principle of minimal doses of drugs provided to the right place is an effective method of treatment and allows to achieve the lasting positive results with the restoration of the thickness and quality of hair.