Background: The frequency of different types of alopecia is not clearly reported in recent studies. Objective: To analyze the frequency of the types of alopecia in patients consulting at specialist hair clinics (SHC) and to assess for global variations. Methods: Multicenter retrospective study including data from patients evaluated at referral SHC in Europe, America, Africa and Australia. Results: A total of 2,835 patients (72.7% females and 27.3% males) with 3,133 diagnoses of alopecia were included (73% were non-cicatricial and 27% were cicatricial alopecias). In all, 57 different types of alopecia were characterized. The most frequent type was androgenetic alopecia (AGA) (37.7%), followed by alopecia areata (AA) (18.2%), telogen effluvium (TE) (11.3%), frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) (10.8%), lichen planopilaris (LPP) (7.6%), folliculitis decalvans (FD) (2.8%), discoid lupus (1.9%) Vañó-Galván et al.

Elements from DNA microarray analysis, such as sample labeling and micro-spotting of capture reagents, have been successfully adapted to multiplex measurements of soluble cytokines. Application in cell biology is hampered by the lack of mono-specific antibodies and the fact that many proteins occur in complexes. Here, we incorporated a principle from Western blotting and resolved protein size as an additional parameter. Proteins from different cellular compartments were labeled and separated by size exclusion chromatography into 20 fractions. All were analyzed with replicate antibody arrays. The elution profiles of all antibody targets were compiled to color maps that resemble Western blots with bands of antibody reactivity across the size separation range (670 -10 kDa). A new solid phase designed for processing in microwell plates was developed to handle the large number of samples. Antibodies were bound to protein G-coupled microspheres surface-labeled with 300 combinations of four fluorescent dyes. Fluorescence from particle color codes and the protein label were measured by high-speed flow cytometry. Cytoplasmic protein kinases were detected as bands near predictable elution points. For proteins with atypical elution characteristics or multiple contexts, two or more antibodies were used as internal references of specificity. Membrane proteins eluted near the void volume, and additional bands corresponding to intracellular forms were detected for several targets. Elution profiles of cyclin-dependent kinases (cdks), cyclins, and cyclindependent kinase inhibitors, were compatible with their occurrence in complexes that vary with the cell cycle phase and subcellular localization. A two-dimensional platform circumvents the need for mono-specific capture antibodies and extends the utility of antibody array analysis to studies of protein complexes. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 8:245-257, 2009.

Our data show that clinical improvement of psoriasis following sun exposure is preceded by a rapid reduction in local and systemic inflammatory markers, strongly suggesting that immune modulation mediated the observed clinical effect. We cannot completely rule out that other mechanisms, such as stress reduction, may contribute, but it is extensively documented that UV irradiation is a potent inducer of immunosuppression and we therefore conclude that the observed effect was primarily due to sun exposure.