Evaluation of the Efficacy and Safety of Oral Tofacitinib for the Treatment of Alopecia Areata in Children

January 2024 in “ Dermatologic Therapy ”

Robabeh Abedini, Saman Al‐Zahawi, Soroosh Dehghan, Narges Ghandi, Maryam Nasimi, Zahra Razavi

tofacitinib alopecia areata alopecia totalis alopecia universalis Severity of Alopecia Tool

TLDR Tofacitinib effectively reduces hair loss in children with alopecia areata but may cause mild side effects and relapses.

This retrospective study evaluated the efficacy and safety of oral tofacitinib in 26 children with alopecia areata (AA), including those with alopecia totalis (AT) or alopecia universalis (AU). The study found a significant 50.92% reduction in the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score after treatment, indicating that tofacitinib is effective in treating AA and AT/AU in children. The treatment was generally well-tolerated with mild adverse effects, although some relapses occurred during treatment and tapering. The study's limitations include its retrospective nature, small sample size, and lack of prolonged follow-up. Future randomized clinical trials with longer follow-up are recommended to further assess the safety of tofacitinib in children.

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Research cited in this study

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