SEVERITY OF ALOPECIA-AREATA IS ASSOCIATED WITH A POLYMORPHISM IN THE INTERLEUKIN-1 RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST GENE

One of the most potent pro-inflammatory mediators is the early-acting cytokine interleukin-1. Its actions are regulated by a structurally re lated anti-inflammatory cytokine known as the interleukin-1 receptor a ntagonist. We have previously characterized a DNA polymorphism in this gene (IL-1rn) and have found associations between allele 2 and severa l chronic inflammatory diseases. In the present study, we tested the f requency of allele 2 of the IL-1rn gene in 90 patients with alopecia a reata compared with 261 healthy controls. There was a significant asso ciation between allele 2 of the polymorphism and the severity of alope cia areata. The frequency of allele 2 increased from 24.1% in the cont rol population to 25.9% in patchy alopecia areata, 36.1% in alopecia t otalis, and 47.2% in alopecia universalis (p = 0.005). This severity a ssociation is similar to that found in other epithelial-related diseas es, including inflammatory bowel disease, lichen sclerosus, and system ic lupus erythematosus.