الفهرس 
Assessment of serum Tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) level in patients with alopecia areata
ContentsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 106 |  |  |
| | | from | 106 | | |
Abstract
Background: Alopecia areata (AA) is, an organ specific autoimmune disease, characterized by an aberrant expression of cytokines of the Th1 type. Tumor necrosis factor- (TNF-) like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a multifactorial cytokine that exerts a role in the pathogenesis inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, especially in cutaneous diseases. Aim:To estimate the possible role of TWEAK in the pathogenesis of AA. Methods: This case{u2013}control study enrolled 40 patients with AA and 50 clinically healthy volunteers matched for age and sex. A sample of 5ml blood was extracted from each participant, for analysis of serum TWEAK levels by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Results:TWEAK level was statistically significantly higher in AA patients (109.1 - 341.6, 213.7 ±59.2) than in control (80.1 - 152.3, 95.97±13.28) (P<0.001). A statistically highly significant strong positive correlation was found between the serum TWEAK level and the SALT score (r = 0.558, P<0.001)