Brazilian Experience of Treating Alopecia Universalis with Novel Antirheumatic Therapy Tofacitinib: A Case Series

    July 2017 in “ Rheumatology and Therapy ”
    Morton Scheinberg, Regina Adalva de Lucena Couto Océa, Bóris Afonso Cruz, Sineida Berbert Ferreira
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    TLDR Tofacitinib, a medication for arthritis, showed potential for treating severe hair loss in a small Brazilian case series, but more research is needed.
    In a case series from 2017, four Brazilian patients with alopecia universalis (AU) were treated with tofacitinib, a Janus kinase inhibitor. Two of the patients had idiopathic AU, and the other two developed AU as a side effect of etanercept treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. All patients showed progressive hair growth with tofacitinib at doses used for rheumatoid arthritis. The study indicated that tofacitinib could be a promising treatment for severe alopecia areata and its variants. However, it highlighted the necessity for randomized controlled trials to determine the most effective dose and treatment duration. No adverse events were reported, but the authors stressed the importance of monitoring for potential side effects. The study concluded that the JAK signaling pathway might be a viable target for AU treatment and called for further research to verify tofacitinib's efficacy for this condition.
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