Investigation of ischaemia-modified albumin and antioxidant vitamins and minerals levels in alopecia areata patients and evaluation of their relationship with disease severity.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the levels of ischaemia-modified albumin, an oxidative stress marker, and antioxidant vitamins and minerals in patients with Alopecia Areata (AA) to measure total antioxidant and oxidant capacity and to determine whether the obtained values were related to the severity of the disease. METHODS: This prospective, controlled study has enrolled 30 patients admitted to our institution's outpatient clinic with a clinical or histopathological diagnosis of AA and 30 individuals as the control group. Serum ischaemia-modified albumin, vitamin E, selenium, copper, zinc, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), and total oxidant capacity (TOC) levels of the individuals included in the study were evaluated, and their relationship with the severity of the disease was determined. RESULTS: Ischaemia-modified albumin level was significantly higher in the patient group compared to the control group (p = 0.002), and vitamin E level was significantly lower in the patient group compared to the control group (p = 0.017). Ischaemia-modified albumin levels were significantly higher in patients with severe disease than in those with mild disease (p = 0.027), while Zn was significantly lower (p = 0.014). No significant difference was found between Se, Cu, Zn, TAC, and TOC levels in the patient and control groups. No significant difference was found between the disease severity and vitamin E, Se, Cu, TAC, and TOC levels. CONCLUSION: In our study, the high ischaemia-modified albumin and low vitamin E levels in AA patients indicate that the oxidant-antioxidant balance in AA patients has shifted towards the oxidant state, and oxidative stress may be effective in the pathogenesis of the disease. We believe new studies conducted in larger patient groups may shed light on the relationship between Se, Cu, Zn, TAC, and TOC levels and oxidative stress in AA patients.