Tofacitinib Reverses Alopecia in Yale University Treatment
Arthritis Drug results in hair growth!
In a study reported in June 2014, by Yale University, a man with almost no hair on his body has grown a full head of it after an unusual treatment by physicians at Yale University.
There is currently no cure or long-term treatment for alopecia universalis, the disease that left the 25-year-old patient bare of hair. This is the first reported case of a successful targeted treatment for the unusual, highly visible disease.
Of note is that the patient has also grown eyebrows and eyelashes, as well as facial, armpit, and other hair, which he lacked at the time he sought help.
“The results are exactly what we hoped for,” said Dr. Brett A. King, assistant professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine and senior author of a paper reporting the results online June 18, 2014 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. “This is a huge step forward in the treatment of patients with this condition. While it’s one case, we anticipated the successful treatment of this man based on our current understanding of the disease and the drug. We believe the same results will be duplicated in other patients, and we plan to try.”
Alopecia universalis Patient regrows hair
Tofacitinib Citrate
The patient had previously been diagnosed with both alopecia universalis, a disease that results in loss of all body hair, and plaque psoriasis, a condition characterized by scaly red areas of skin. The only hair on his body was within the psoriasis plaques on his head. He was referred to Yale Dermatology for treatment of the psoriasis. The patients alopecia universalis had never been treated.
King believed it might be possible to address both diseases simultaneously using an existing FDA-approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis called tofacitinib citrate. The drug had been used successfully for treating psoriasis in humans. It had also reversed alopecia areata, a less extreme form of alopecia, in mice.
These panels show the patient's head a) before treatmen with tofacitinib,
“There are no good options for long-term treatment of alopecia universalis,” said King, a clinician interested in the treatment of rare but devastating skin diseases. “The best available science suggested this might work, and it has.” She continues with “By eight months there was full regrowth of hair,” said co-author Dr. Brittany G. Craiglow. “The patient has reported feeling no side effects, and we’ve seen no lab test abnormalities, either.”
These panels show the patient's head
c) five months into treatment, and
d) eight months into treatment.
After two months on tofacitinib at 10 mg daily, the patient’s psoriasis displayed some improvement, and the man had grown scalp and facial hair — the first hair he’d grown there in seven years. After three more months of therapy at 15 mg daily, the patient had completely regrown scalp hair and also had clearly visible eyebrows, eyelashes, and facial hair, as well as armpit and other hair, the doctors said.
Journal of Investigative Dermatology
Tofacitinib appears to spur hair regrowth in a patient with alopecia universalis by turning off the immune system attack on hair follicles that is prompted by the disease, King said.
The drug helps in some, but not all, cases of psoriasis, and was mildly effective in this patient’s case, the authors said.
King has submitted a proposal for a clinical trial involving a cream form of tofacitinib as a treatment for alopecia areata.
Citing work by Columbia University scientist Angela Christiano as the reason he decided to try tofacitinib as a therapy in this patient with both alopecia universalis and psoriasis. She has shown thattofacitinib and a related medicine reverse alopecia areata in mice. King called her work exemplary and a clear example of how society’s investment in science research leads to improvement in human life.
Brittany G. Craiglow, MD, and Brett A. King, MD, PhD, from the Department of Dermatology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, present these results in an article published online June 18, 2014 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.
Hair Growth Studies
