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A researcher has hailed "exciting" results from a study into a treatment for the hair loss condition alopecia areata.
A relatively common condition, alopecia areata is thought to affect 1 in every 500 to 1,000 people in the United States, and is one of many recognized types of alopecia.
It causes hair to fall out in small, round patches, leaving areas of bare skin on the scalp or other areas of the body.
One notable person with alopecia is U.S. actress Jada Pinkett Smith, the target of a joke by Oscars host Chris Rock last week.
Currently, there are no treatments available for alopecia areata that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
But, last week, scientists from several universities released results from two Phase 3 clinical trials involving alopecia patients that suggest a type of arthritis medicine called baricitinib could help.
One of the trials involved 654 patients and the other involved 546. All of the patients in the study had a SALT score of 50 or more—a number used to measure the severity of alopecia from 0, meaning no scalp hair loss, to 100, meaning complete scalp hair loss.
The aim was to reduce this number from 50 or more to 20 or less by week 36 by giving the patients baricitinib—a drug that is FDA-approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis—in varying doses.
Patients were randomly assigned either 4 mg or 2 mg of the drug, while the rest were given a placebo.
By the end of the first trial, an estimated 38.8 percent of patients given the 4 mg dose had their SALT score reduced to 20 or less, along with 22.8 percent in the 2 mg group, and 6.2 percent who were given the placebo.
At the end of the second trial, 35.9 percent of patients in the 4 mg group had their SALT score reduced to 20 or less, along with 19.4 percent in the 2 mg group and 3.3 percent in the placebo group.
In terms of side-effects, the researchers found that acne and increased levels of cholesterol were more common in those given the medication than in the placebo group. Higher levels of creatine kinase, which can indicate muscle damage, were also more common in those given the drug than those who weren't.
It should be noted that baricitinib is contraindicated—not for use—in pregnant women due to observed effects on fetuses in animal tests, and that infections have been observed as a side effect of jakinibs, the family of medicines to which baricitinib belongs.
Dr. Brett King, an associate professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine and lead author of the new study, said in a Yale University press release: "This is so exciting, because the data clearly show how effective baricitinib is.
"These large, controlled trials tell us that we can alleviate some of the suffering from this awful disease."
The study concluded that baricitinib was better than placebo in regrowing hair in alopecia areata patients after 36 weeks, although longer trials would be needed to confirm how safe and effective it is.
The research, which was funded by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, was published in The New England Journal of Medicine on March 26.
