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Abstract alopecia areata (AA) is a chronic inflammatory non-scarring condition affecting the hair follicle (HF) that leads to hair loss ranging from small well-defined patches to complete loss of all body hair. The main theory of AA pathogenesis is that it is an autoimmune phenomenon resulting from a disruption in HF. It is characterized by abnormal levels of several cytokines. Alopecia areata typically presents as smooth, sharply demarcated, round patches of hair loss without atrophy with “exclamation point hairs” observed on the periphery of the patches. Special designations of the disease include alopecia universalis (AU) (total body hair loss), alopecia totalis (AT) (total scalp hair loss), or alopecia in an ophiasis pattern (band-like hair loss on the temporal and occipital scalp). A few development Components show up to control the advancement and the cycle of a hair follicle for example, epidermal Growth component (EGF), transforming Growth element (TGF), keratinocyte development element (KGF), vascular endothelial development (VEGF). The roles of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in the pathogenesis of alopecia areata (AA) are unknown. However, several reports have suggested an association between EGF signaling and AA. Studies have found that expression of EGF in HF cells have relations with epidermal repair. These studies suggest that EGF signal transduction not only controls the initiation of catagen phase, but also participates in many other physiological activities, which is an extremely complex process. The study is aimed to estimate the serum level of EGF in patients with Alopecia Areata and its correlation with disease severity. This is a case control study, was conducted at the outpatient clinic in Beni Suef University hospital, on Sixty persons divided into 2 groups: (GroupA): included 30 patients having alopecia areata, (group B): included 30 apparently healthy age- and sex-matched individuals as controls, from January 2020 to July 2020. The main results of the study revealed that: Among the cases in group A there were 22 (73.3%) males and 8 (26.7%) females with mean age 30.03 (±13.79 SD) and range (6-50) years. Among the cases in group B there were 20 (66.7%) males, 10 (33.3%) females with mean age 30.43 (±13.86 SD) and range (6-51) years. Among the cases there were 5 (16.7%) with positive family history of alopecia, 17 (56.7%) with disease duration less than 1 month and 13 (43.3%) more than 1 month, 10 (33.3%) who previously used treatment among them there were 7 (70%) with positive response to that treatment and the mean SALT score was 51.73 (±24.07 SD) with range (7-89) %. There was high statistically significant difference between the studied groups as regard EGF There was strong correlation between EGF and SALT score with high significance. Based on our results we recommend for further studies on larger patients and longer period of follow up to emphasize our conclusion. |