Altered hypothalamus functional connectivity and psychological stress in patients with alopecia areata.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Alopecia areata (AA) is a nonscarring chronic inflammatory hair loss disease with a complex etiology. Psychological stress and dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis have been strongly linked to the etiology of AA, but the associated changes in intrinsic brain activity remain unknown. We hypothesized that patients with AA exhibit altered hypothalamic activity that is linked to psychological stress. This study aimed to characterize the altered hypothalamic activity in patients with AA and its relationship to psychological stress.

Methods

A total of 102 patients with AA and 84 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. All participants underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) to assess brain act

SUBMITTER: Duan Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11948389 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature