Cross talk between oxidative stress and inflammation in alopecia areata.

Background: Although the etiopathogenesis of alopecia areata (AA) is still unclear, inflammation, oxidative stress, and subsequent DNA damage might be considered role players in disease development.

Aim: We aimed at exploring the potential link between oxidative DNA damage and inflammation in AA patients through measuring 8-hydroxy deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), high mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB1), and one of the inflammatory mediators, C-reactive protein (CRP).

Methods: A total of 79 subjects (49 AA patients in addition to 30 apparently healthy control subjects) were tested for serum levels of 8-OHdG, HMBG1, and CRP.