Skip to content

Alopecia areata and atopic dermatitis can be treated with an immunosuppresants JAK inhibitors. Is the search for treatment over?

What is alopecia areata?

Severe alopecia areata (AE) can cause a total loss of body hair, including eyelashes and eyebrows, nose hair, and hair in the ears. How does this happen? AE is one of the many autoimmune diseases where our immune system malfunctions and doesn’t recognize molecules in our bodies, treating them as foreign and dangerous.

What is JAK?

The Janus kinase family of enzymes is involved in signal transduction by cytokines. Cytokines control cell growth and the immune response by binding to specific receptors. Once activated, these receptors are phosphorylated by Janus kinases, and the modified receptors recruit transcription factors that modulate gene transcription. Block these kinases, and you can modulate those cytokines and control their effect and the misery they cause when they “misfire.”

New JAK inhibitors are being created all the time, modifying chemical structure to achieve more specificity and better results with fewer side effects.

Some nasty skin and scalp diseases are caused by disorders of the immune system, and we are already seeing some JAK inhibitors being approved by the FDA to treat diseases like alopecia areata, psoriasis, and eczema.

Reality

Are JAK inhibitors the “magic bullets” of this decade? It looks like it, but just like the other magic bullet, corticosteroids, they can have side effects.

Figure: mechanism of action of JAK inhibitors. From Vijayakrishnan, L., Venkataramanan, R., & Gulati, P. (2011).

The Food and Drug Administration approved baricitinib, a drug made by Eli Lilly that regrows hair by blocking the immune system from attacking hair follicles. Two other companies, Pfizer and Concert Pharmaceuticals, are close behind with similar drugs, known as JAK inhibitors. The drugs are already on the market for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases. F.D.A. approval is important for insurance coverage of these expensive drugs, which have a list price of nearly $2,500 a month. Patients in the Lilly study experienced relatively mild side effects, including a small increased risk of acne, urinary tract infections, and other infections. Those side effects were easily treatable or improved without treatment.

Scalp care by Skin Actives

If hair loss is limited in time and location, go for Skin Actives products first. Stress, illness, weight-loss diets, gastric bypass, medications for cancer, and other medications, can cause temporary hair loss.

Skin Actives products for scalp and hair provide nutrition, decrease inflammation, trap ROS* (reactive oxygen species), address hormonal imbalance, discourage “bad” microorganisms, creating an environment more favorable to hair growth.

Here are some of our products

Leave-in revitalizing conditioner

Nourishing hair mask

The jackpot: Hair growth serum for men

Hair serum with apocynin and ROS Bionet

Double action hair serum

 

What else can you do if you are losing hair?

Be nice to your scalp: avoid strong shampoos, bubble baths, and allergenic ingredients.

Don’t apply extreme tension to your scalp and hair: look at your hair styling with critical eyes, thinking about what’s good for you and NOT what’s fashionable

Don’t apply mystery products to your scalp and hair: glues, irritants, and dyes may be killing the live cells in charge of making new cells and hair

When you are about to do something to your scalp, like heating it to get a hairstyle, picture yourself losing your hair and ask whether you are ready to pay the price.

You are likely going to live for many years, give your scalp a chance!

 

References

Paller AS, Kabashima K, Bieber T. Therapeutic pipeline for atopic dermatitis: End of the drought? J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2017 Sep;140(3):633-643. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2017.07.006. PMID: 28887947.

Vijayakrishnan, L., Venkataramanan, R., & Gulati, P. (2011). Treating inflammation with the Janus Kinase inhibitor CP-690,550. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences, 32(1), 25–34. doi:10.1016/j.tips.2010.10.004

Gilhar, A., Keren, A., & Paus, R. (2019). JAK inhibitors and alopecia areata. The Lancet, 393(10169), 318–319. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(18)32987-8

 

DISCLAIMER: These claims have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat or prevent any disease.