Serum Elements Status of Androgenetic Alopecia Subjects Exposed to Cigarette Smoke or Alcohol

Department of Chemical Pathology, College of Health Sciences, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Osogbo. ___________________________________________________________________________ Abstract Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) has been linked with smoking and alcohol consumption as well as abnormality in serum levels of a number of trace elements, and study reports have suggested that both smoking and alcohol consumption may cause imbalance in serum trace elements levels. The aim of the study was to estimate the levels of some trace elements and magnesium in the serum of AGA subjects, and establish if smoking/alcohol induced AGA is mediated through trace element alteration. This type of study is required to highlight the role of trace elements alteration as a risk factor of androgenetic alopecia in Nigerian subjects. Thirty subjects each were recruited for smoking, alcohol consuming and non-smoking/non-alcohol consuming AGA groups while 40 subjects served as the control group. Serum samples were analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometric methods. Although serum levels of iron, chromium, cobalt and molybdenum were not significantly different in all alopecia groups compared with control, serum zinc, copper, selenium, manganese and magnesium levels were significantly lower only in smoker group while copper and selenium were significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in alcohol consuming AGA subjects but none of the elements were significantly different in nonsmoking/non-alcohol consuming AGA compared with control (p>0.05). Duration of alopecia was also significantly higher in smoking AGA subjects compared with non-smoking/non-alcohol consuming ones, although they were age-matched. We conclude that both smoking and alcohol consumption may cause early onset of AGA, a process which may also be mediated by trace elements alteration, but the limitation of this study may include among others the sample size, therefore large population study is required to confirm/substantiate this finding. __________________________________________________________________________________________