by -- Monica Smith
Updated: Jun 30th 2010

WEDNESDAY, June 30 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have identified eight genes that play a role in alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that affects about 2 percent of the overall population and results in hair loss from the scalp and other areas of the body, and their findings have been published in the July 1 issue of Nature.

Lynn Petukhova, of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues conducted a genome-wide association study of 1,054 people with alopecia areata and 3,278 controls.

The researchers found 139 single nucleotide polymorphisms significantly associated with alopecia areata, and identified eight genes as an underlying cause of the disease. One gene, ULBP3, stood out as being possibly responsible for the onset of alopecia areata. Normally not present in hair follicles, ULBP3 is abundant in hair follicles affected by alopecia areata. Two of the other genes identified are also expressed in hair follicles; the remaining five are tied into immune response.

"Finding the initial genes underlying alopecia areata is a big step forward, but the nature of the genes is even more exciting," co-author, Angela M. Christiano, Ph.D., of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, said in a statement. "There seems to be a shared mechanism among organs that express NKG2D danger signals as part of the initiating process. And since drugs are already in development that target these pathways, we may soon be able to test these drugs in clinical trials for alopecia areata. Finally, we have the possibility of developing drugs that specifically target the mechanism behind the disease."

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