The study further supports the concept that the characteristic hair loss pattern we diagnose as AA phenotype, does not always represent a classical, autoantigen- and autoreactive CD8+/NKGD2 +T-cell-dependent autoimmune disease (‘autoimmune AA’ [AAA]), but can also reflect non-autoimmune pathomechanisms that may perhaps best be defined as non-autoimmune AA subtype (NAIAA) (Bertolini et al., 2020; Paus et al., 2018; Figure 9). The gene discussed is CD8A; the disease is autoimmune disease.