Vitiligo and alopecia areata in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection.

In patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) the development of autoimmune diseases, while not life threatening, is an interesting phenomenon that may result from immune dysfunction or from B cell infection by HIV, Epstein-Barr virus, or other unknown viruses. Vitiligo and alopecia areata are among the autoimmune diseases that have been reported in 11 patients infected with HIV. We describe a 47-year-old man who had vitiligo and alopecia areata approximately 2 years after testing positive for HIV antibodies.