Toll-like receptors (TLRs) may contribute to the process of autoimmune attacks on hair follicles. To investigate whether the TLR1 gene polymorphisms are associated with the development and clinical features of alopecia areata (AA), a case-control comparison of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs4833095, Asn248Ser and rs5743557, -414C > T) of TLR1 were studied in 239 AA patients and 248 controls. Using multiple logistic regression model, odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals and corresponding p values were estimated. Clinical features were analyzed based on the age of onset, family history, type of AA, nail involvement and body hair involvement. The missense SNP rs4833095 was significantly associated with the development of AA (codominant2, p = 0.002; recessive, p = 0.001; log-additive, p = 0.0071; and allele frequency, p = 0.0066). The promoter SNP rs5743557 was weakly associated with the development of AA (codominant2, p = 0.019; recessive, p = 0.032; log-additive, p = 0.020; and allele frequency, p = 0.03). In the clinical features, rs4833095 was only weakly associated with age of onset between 15 and 50 years (codominant2, p = 0.043 and recessive, p = 0.022). The results suggest that rs4833095 of TLR1 may be associated with the susceptibility for AA in the Korean population.

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studies. 2,3 One of the reasons for the inadequacy of HFUS alone may be that the previous studies did not use markers showing the tumor position on the skin. Dermoscopy has also been used in the determination of surgical margins, 4 but observation by dermoscopy cannot cover the mid-dermis or lower dermis.In conclusion, we found that the determination of the surgical margin of BCC using both dermoscopy and HFUS with narrow pieces of surgical tape is easy and might be a useful addition to the surgical toolbox. This report is based on a preliminary experience with only 2 cases. We think that this method may be less suitable for infiltrative BCC types such as morpheaform or recurrent BCC.

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