{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,2]],"date-time":"2026-11-02T20:14:55Z","timestamp":1793650495972,"version":"4.5.1"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,17]],"date-time":"2022-03-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1647475200000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,17]],"date-time":"2022-03-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1647475200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Immunol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Alopecia areata (AA) is a common inflammatory disorder targeting the hair follicles leading to non-scaring hair loss. The pathogenesis of AA is still unclear, despite the accumulating evidence of the immune-mediated nature of this disease. So, in this study, we aimed to assess the level of CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells and natural killer (NK) cells in the peripheral blood of patients with active AA and control subjects, and to evaluate the association between the level of those cells and the duration of disease in different subtypes of AA.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Fifty female patients and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in this case control study. CBC analysis and the level of CD4, CD8 T cells and NK cells were evaluated during the active stage of the disease. We found that CD4, CD8 T cells and NK cells proportion was significantly lower (P\u2009&lt;\u20090.05) in patients with active stage AA compared with healthy subjects, however, the ratio of CD4:CD8 T cells was significantly higher in patients than control subjects. The level of CD4, CD8 T cells CD56 bright CD16<jats:sup>\u2212<\/jats:sup>% NK cells were positively correlated with the disease duration.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Active stage of AA disease is associated with a reduction of the circulating CD4, CD8 T cells and NK cells and an increase in CD4\/CD8 T cells ratio, however, the level of those cells were higher with prolonged disease duration. Our findings confirm that immune mechanisms are involved in the pathogenesis of AA.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12865-022-00486-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,17]],"date-time":"2022-03-17T16:36:02Z","timestamp":1647534962000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["CD4, CD8 and natural killer cells are depressed in patients with alopecia areata: their association with disease activity"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"23","author":[{"given":"Abdel-Khalek","family":"Younes","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Refaat","family":"Hammad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mona","family":"Othman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ali","family":"Sobhy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,17]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"486_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.1159\/000492035","volume":"5","author":"AM Hosking","year":"2019","unstructured":"Hosking AM, Juhasz M, Atanaskova Mesinkovska N. Complementary and alternative treatments for alopecia: a comprehensive review. Skin Appendage Disord. 2019;5(2):72\u201389.","journal-title":"Skin Appendage Disord"},{"issue":"1","key":"486_CR2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1038\/nrdp.2017.11","volume":"3","author":"CH Pratt","year":"2017","unstructured":"Pratt CH, et al. Alopecia areata. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2017;3(1):1\u201317.","journal-title":"Nat Rev Dis Primers"},{"key":"486_CR3","first-page":"397","volume":"8","author":"ACV Fricke","year":"2015","unstructured":"Fricke ACV, Miteva M. Epidemiology and burden of alopecia areata: a systematic review. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2015;8:397.","journal-title":"Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol"},{"issue":"2","key":"486_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/j.autrev.2014.10.014","volume":"14","author":"N Islam","year":"2015","unstructured":"Islam N, et al. The autoimmune basis of alopecia areata: a comprehensive review. 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Informed consent was taken from the participants after illustrating the nature of our study.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethical approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"13"}}