Link Between Atopic Dermatitis and Alopecia Areata

Atopic dermatitis and alopecia areata appear to have a bilateral association, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Dermatitis.

In this exclusive MedPage Today video, Rong Sun, MD, of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine in China, explains the study findings.

Following is a transcript of his remarks:

Growing studies were conducted on the association of alopecia areata with comorbidities. And dupilumab [Dupixent] has been demonstrated to have a positive dual affect in the management of both diseases [atopic dermatitis and alopecia areata] in multiple case reports and studies. However, no definite consensus on the association between the two diseases has been reached yet, which remains to be a big challenge for clinicians in disease prevention. Therefore, our review and meta-analysis was conducted to explore the association between the two diseases.

We provided explicit evidence of the bidirectional association between alopecia areata and atopic dermatitis. The pooled odds ratio for the prevalence of atopic dermatitis in alopecia areata patients was statistically significant and vice versa.

So we provide valuable insights into clinical disease prevention and control in medical diagnosed process. Whether one of the diseases is diagnosed, additional screening is recommended to detect the presence of the other disease. And appropriate preventive measures should be taken early. And so in clinical settings, implementing [scientific] management strategies can be beneficial to the treatment of both diseases.

So with increasing studies on the relationship between the two diseases, from the perspectives of social psychology and immunology, further exploration of genomics and more rigorous epidemiological investigations are required to confirm the findings of our analysis.

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