Comorbid Chronic Inflammatory Diseases Influence Alopecia Areata Prognosis

TUESDAY, Jan. 28, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Comorbid chronic inflammatory diseases (CIDs) influence the prognosis of alopecia areata (AA), according to a research letter published online Jan. 8 in Allergy.

Annika Friedrich, from the University of Bonn in Germany, and colleagues used self-reported data from 2,657 mainly Central European AA patients to conduct a comprehensive analysis of associations between comorbid CIDs and selected AA-clinical features of relevance to prognosis.

Overall, 53.7 percent of the AA cohort reported one or more comorbid CID of any type: 44.5 and 17.4 percent reported one or more comorbid atopic CID and nonatopic CID, respectively. The researchers found that compared with patients with no comorbid CIDs, those with comorbid atopic dermatitis (AD), bronchial asthma, or Hashimoto thyroiditis were significantly more likely to report early-onset, severe, and prolonged AA. A significantly increased risk for prolonged AA was seen for patients with comorbid rhinitis or vitiligo. Compared with comorbid AD or rhinitis, comorbid bronchial asthma was associated with a higher risk for early-onset, severe, or prolonged AA. A more pronounced association was seen for CID comorbidity status with AA duration than with age of onset or severity. A significantly higher number of self-reported atopic comorbidities was seen in early-onset, severe, and prolonged AA compared with late-onset, mild, and nonprolonged disease, respectively. Per additional atopic comorbidity, the odds of early-onset, severe, and prolonged AA increased by 1.179, 1.130, and 1.202, respectively. The mean age of onset for AA was almost 10 years earlier in patients with AD + bronchial asthma + rhinitis compared with patients with AA only.

“Our findings suggest that distinct comorbid constellations may indicate AA subtypes with differing prognoses,” the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text