JAK Inhibitor Therapy in Alopecia Areata with Latent Hepatitis B Virus or Tuberculosis Infection: A Safety Assessment

This study assessed the safety of JAK inhibitor therapy (ritlecitinib or baricitinib) in nine patients with moderate-to-severe alopecia areata (AA) who also had latent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection or stable/resolved tuberculosis (TB). Over a median follow-up of 7 months, no cases of HBV reactivation or TB progression were observed, although one patient experienced transient liver enzyme elevation that resolved after discontinuing the drug. All patients showed hair regrowth and reduced SALT scores, indicating treatment efficacy. The findings suggest that JAK inhibitors can be safely used in this high-risk population with appropriate monitoring and selective prophylactic measures, despite the small sample size and retrospective nature of the study.