An FDA-approved drug can restore hair in patients suffering from alopecia.
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have identified the immune cells responsible for destroying hair follicles in patients with alopecia areata, which causes hair loss. The drug restored hair in a small sample of patients.
"We've only begun testing the drug in patients, but if the drug continues to be successful and safe, it will have a dramatic positive impact on the lives of people with this disease," said Raphael Clynes, MD, PhD, who led the research.
Researchers have known for years that alopecia is caused by immune cells that attack the base of hair follicles, but until now they were unsure of the exact identity of these cells. Four years ago researchers identified a "danger signal" the hair follicles of alopecia sufferers that attracts the immune cells to the follicle and sparks the attack. The current study tracked backwards to identify the set of T-cells responsible for the attack and identified several key immune pathways that could be targeted through a class of drug called JAK inhibitors. The researchers found ruxolitinib and tofacitinib were able to effectively block the pathways on stop the attack on the hair follicles in mice. In a human trial ruxolitinib restored hair growth in three study participants in about five months.
"We still need to do more testing to establish that ruxolitinib should be used in alopecia areata, but this is exciting news for patients and their physicians," Dr. Clynes said. "This disease has been completely understudied-until now, only two small clinical trials evaluating targeted therapies in alopecia areata have been performed, largely because of the lack of mechanistic insight into it."
"There are few tools in the arsenal for the treatment of alopecia areata that have any demonstrated efficacy. This is a major step forward in improving the standard of care for patients suffering from this devastating disease," said David Bickers, MD, the Carl Truman Nelson Professor of Dermatology and chair of the Department of Dermatology at CUMC and dermatologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia.
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