The Association of Serum Ferritin Levels With Non-scarring Alopecia in Women

Objective We designed this study to evaluate the association of serum ferritin levels with non-scarring alopecia in women. Methodology All patients were diagnosed by performing a clinical examination of the crown part width and occiput. Ludwig's classification was used to categorize the cases into grades I-III. Different laboratory tests were performed for the baseline investigation, including serum iron, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), hemogram, and thyroid function tests. Of the 5 ml of venous blood drawn for routine biochemical tests, 3 ml was stored at -20°C for measuring serum ferritin, while the other 2 ml was sent for a complete blood count. Student's t-test, a chi-square test, and Fisher's exact test were used for comparing the variables. Results This study recruited 100 cases of alopecia. Out of them, 46% of patients were diagnosed with alopecia areata, 25% of cases reported androgenetic alopecia, and 29% of cases of telogen effluvium were also observed. We observed overall mean serum ferritin levels of 20.47±17.50 and 27.87±17.51 in the case versus the control group with a statistically significant difference of 0.005. Conclusion Our study shows that iron stores are one of the independent hazards of alopecia in non-menopausal women. Thus, proper laboratory examination is needed to manage the disease prevalence and prognosis.