Thiol/disulfide homeostasis in patients with telogen effluvium: is oxidative stress important in the pathogenesis of telogen effluvium?

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the correlation between telogen effluvium (TE) with the new oxidative stress (OS) indicator of thiol/disulfide balance and to research the role of OS in the pathogenesis of TE. Methods: Our study included 101 patients with TE diagnosis and 39 healthy individuals. Serum thiol/disulfide was measured with a new automated spectrometric method developed by Erel and Neselioglu, and results were compared statistically. Results: Among the six thiol/disulfide parameters, there were statistically significant differences for native thiol, total thiol, disulfide, disulfide/native thiol, disulfide/total thiol, and native thiol/total thiol studied in the patient and control groups (P = 0.042, 0.044, <0.001, 0.013, 0.026, and < 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, it can be said that OS is closely associated with TE pathogenesis. There is a need for new studies that will show the possible effects of OS on TE pathogenesis and research different OS markers in addition to thiol/disulfide parameters.