Exp Dermatol. 1998;7:289

Equine alopecia areata autoantibodies target multiple hair follicle antigens and may alter hair growth. A preliminary study.Tobin DJ, et al

Several cases of hair loss due to an alopecia areata like disease exist in mammalian species.....snip... The current preliminary study was conducted to determine whether a horse with AA-like hair loss contained circulating antibodies to HE The pathogenic potential of these antibodies was examined by passive transfer into anagen skin of C57BL/ 10 black mice. snip... IgG fractions of serum obtained from an "AA" horse and from a normal control horse were injected into anagen murine skin. Histologically, normal hair regrowth was observed in mice injected with normal equine IgG. By contrast, hair did not re-grow in an area around the injection site of AA-treated mice even 13 weeks after first injection. This skin contained telogen follicles, most often without associated shafts, despite the presence of anagen HF in the remaining dorsum skin. While this study is preliminary, it demonstrates for the first time that antibodies to HF antigens are a feature of AA-like hair loss in horses...snip... Further, we provide in this pilot study preliminary evidence that such antibodies may disrupt hair re-growth when passively transferred into mice, supporting the view that anti-HF antibodies in AA may have pathogenic potential.