Cytokine Profiling in Primary Cicatricial Alopecia: Androgenic Alopecia and Leptin Connections

Abstract

Primary Cicatricial Alopecias (PCA) are a group of autoimmune inflammatory disorder which cause permanent destruction of hair follicles, mainly affected by the inflammatory cells such as lymphocytes, neutrophils, or combination of these. The management of PCA has become one of the most challenging clinical issues among dermatologists. The specific treatment of any form of the PCAs is currently unknown. We aim to identify the cytokine biomarkers in each type of PCA and study cytokine signatures’ (role) in alopecia’s pathogenesis and therapeutic aspects. Total protein from affected individuals scalp biopsy was extracted using the total protein extraction kit. For the cytokine detection, we used RayBio ® C- Series Human Cytokine Antibody Array C5 with the help of a chemiluminescence detector. A total of 42 cytokines were analyzed and found significant differences in the diseased states’ ratio compared to normal and unaffected samples. The inflammatory cells and associated cytokines are essential to develop a thorough understanding of alopecia’s autoimmune nature. The cytokines can be incorporated with current therapeutics for the better management of alopecia.