斑秃的自身免疫特性,由发现了围绕在受损的生长期毛发毛囊球部出现活化的CD4淋巴细胞的炎性浸润,以及给移植有人类头皮的SCID小鼠注射头皮浸润的T淋巴细胞,也诱导出现了斑秃的表现来得到证实。[9]Gilhar A, Ullmann Y, Berkutzki T, et al. Autoimmune hair loss (alopecia areata) transferred by T lymphocytes to human scalp explants on SCID mice. J Clin Invest. 1998;101:62-67.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9421466?tool=bestpractice.com 与其他自身免疫病一样,斑秃与人类白细胞抗原(HLA)II类等位基因有很大的关联。[10]Colombe BW, Price VH, Khoury EL, et al. HLA class II antigen associations help to define two types of alopecia areata. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1995;33:757-764.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7593774?tool=bestpractice.com 全基因组扫描显示染色体 6、10、16 和 18 上至少有 4 个易感基因位点的证据。[11]Martinez-Mir A, Zlotogorski A, Gordon D, et al. Genomewide scan for linkage reveals evidence of several susceptibility loci for alopecia areata. Am J Hum Genet. 2007;80:316-328.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17236136?tool=bestpractice.com 斑秃似乎与唐氏综合征也有关,表明了第21染色体上也可能存在相关易感基因。[12]McDonagh AJG, Tazi-Ahnini R. Epidemiology and genetics of alopecia areata. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2002;27:405-409.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12190641?tool=bestpractice.com