New Alopecia Drug Helps to Restore Damaged Hair Follicles

A new FDA-approved drug may be able to help restore hair follicles in patients suffering from alopecia--a balding condition, predominantly found in men. Findings revealed that the drug was successful in re-growing 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 lead study author Raphael Clynes, MD, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center, in a news release. 

Though researchers have studied the culprit of this embarrassing problem, they had previously been unable to more specifically target the immune cells' attack of the hair follicles, which results in hair loss.

For their current research, Clynes and colleagues worked to trace the set of T-cells responsible for the attack and identify several key immune pathways that could be targeted through a class of drugs called JAK inhibitors.

Researchers discovered that the drugs ruxolitinib and tofacitinib were able to effectively block the attack pathways on hair follicles in mice. In human trials, ruxolitinib was even found to help restore hair growth in three study participants over a five-month-period.

However, researchers note that they will need to conduct further testing in order to determine if ruxolitinib should be used for treating the condition. Nevertheless, the news is certainly excited, according to study authors.

"There are few tools in the arsenal for the treatment of alopecia areata that have any demonstrated efficacy,"  conlcuded 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. "This is a major step forward in improving the standard of care for patients suffering from this devastating disease."