Vitamin D has been of increased interest in the role of maintaining immune system balance. Alopecia Areata (AA) is a T-cell mediated autoimmune disease which causes anagen-stage hair follicles. Low concentration of vitamin D may be a risk factor for AA. We aimed to determine vitamin D concentrations in patients with AA. 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)-D) concentrations and 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH) 2 D 3 ) were determined from sera collected from patients with AA (n=42) and healthy controls (n=42). 25(OH)-D and 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 concentrations were measured by ELISA method. The concentrations of both 25(OH)-D and 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 were found to be significantly lower in patients with AA than control group (p<0.001 for each analysis). The results show that there is a significant difference between AA patients and normal subjects in terms of serum vitamin D concentrations. Therefore, it is suggested that vitamin D deficiency may have a role in the setting of AA.
Hearing thresholds at pure-tone and high-frequency audiometry were higher in patients with vitiligo. Also, significantly lower high-frequency amplitudes were recorded during transient evoked otoacoustic emission testing in the disease group.
Patients with AA displayed reduced erythrocyte SOD and GSH-Px activities and enhanced plasma MDA levels. These findings support the possible role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of AA.
Leishmania sp. are obligate intracellular protozoa that infect and replicate within mammalian macrophages. Macrophages, neutrophils and other phagocytic cells are key components of the antimicrobial and tumoricidal immune responses. These cells are capable of generating large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). To examine antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation in cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) patients, activities of two ROS scavenging enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO(.)) have been studied in serum. Blood samples were taken from CL patients before treatment (n = 27) and after the treatment (n = 18). NO(.) and MDA levels, SOD and GSH-Px activities were compared between untreated and treated CL patients and control subjects (n = 23). There was a significant decrease in SOD and GSH-Px activities in the CL patients (P < 0.0001). Significantly higher levels of serum MDA and NO(.) levels were found in CL patients, compared to controls and treated patients. It may be suggested that the overproduction of ROS and RNS results in oxidative stress and the acceleration of lipid peroxidation in CL patients, resulting from altered enzymatic antioxidant activities.
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