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Letter to the Editor| Volume 54, ISSUE 1, P43-45, April 2009

Decreased heme oxygenase-1 expression in the scalp of patients with alopecia areata: The pathogenic role of heme oxygenase-1

  • Sook Jung Yun
    Affiliations
    Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, South Korea
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  • Hyung-Sung Kim
    Affiliations
    Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, South Korea
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  • Jee Young Choi
    Affiliations
    Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, South Korea
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  • Jee-Bum Lee
    Affiliations
    Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, South Korea
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  • Seong-Jin Kim
    Affiliations
    Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, South Korea
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  • Young Ho Won
    Affiliations
    Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, South Korea
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  • Seung-Chul Lee
    Correspondence
    Corresponding author. Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University Medical School, 8 Hak-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju, 501-757, South Korea. Tel.: +82 62 220 6682; fax: +82 62 222 4058.
    Affiliations
    Department of Dermatology, Chonnam National University Medical School, Chonnam National University Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Gwangju, South Korea
    Search for articles by this author
      Although the pathogenesis of alopecia areata (AA) has been associated with lipid peroxidation, the role of antioxidants has not been fully explored [
      • Naziroglu M.
      • Kokcam I.
      Antioxidants and lipid peroxidation status in the blood of patients with alopecia.
      ,
      • Koca R.
      • Armutcu F.
      • Altinyazar H.C.
      • Gurel A.
      Evaluation of lipid peroxidation, oxidant/antioxidant status and serum nitric oxide levels in alopecia areata.
      ]. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the catabolism of heme; it breaks down the porphyrin ring to yield equal molar amounts of free iron, carbon monoxide and biliverdin, which is subsequently reduced to bilirubin. Among three different isoforms of HO, the inducible isoform of HO-1, also known as the major 32 kDa heat shock protein HSP-32, is induced by a wide variety of stressful stimuli, including ultraviolet irradiation, hydrogen peroxide, lipopolysaccharides, and organic chemicals [
      • Elbirt K.K.
      • Bonkovsky H.L.
      Heme oxygenase: recent advances in understanding its regulation and role.
      ,
      • Applegate L.A.
      • Luscher P.
      • Tyrrell R.M.
      Induction of heme oxygeanse: a general response to oxidative stress in cultured mammalian cells.
      ]. HO-1 also inhibits T cell-dependent skin inflammation and differentiation as well as the function of antigen-presenting cells [
      • Listopad J.
      • Asadullah K.
      • Sievers C.
      • Ritter T.
      • Meisel C.
      • Sabat R.
      • et al.
      Heme oxygenase-1 inhibits T cell-dependent skin inflammation and differentiation and function of antigen-presenting cells.
      ]. The upregulation of HO-1 expression in inflamed skin such as psoriasis and cutaneous wounds has suggested that HO-1 might play an important cytoprotective role under conditions of cellular stress such as ischemia, hypoxia, inflammation, and oxidative stress [
      • Hanselmann C.
      • Mauch C.
      • Werner S.
      Haem oxygenase-1: a novel player in cutaneous wound repair and psoriasis?.
      ,
      • Wojas-Pelc A.
      • Marcinkiewicz J.
      What is a role of haeme oxygenase-1 in psoriasis? Current concepts of pathogenesis.
      ]. However, the role of HO-1 in AA has not been studied. To elucidate the pathogenetic role of HO-1 in AA, we compared the HO-1 expression between AA patches and normal skin.

      Keywords

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