Hairless Man Grows Full Head Of Hair In Yale Arthritis Drug Trial

[Anarch]

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/06/...ll-head-of-hair-in-yale-arthritis-drug-trial/



BOSTON (CBS) – Scientists at Yale may have discovered quite the off-label use for an FDA-approved arthritis drug.

During a trial, which stretched for eight months, a 25-year-old man with almost no hair on his body grew a full head following treatment with the drug. He reported no noticeable side effects.

The patient was suffering from a rare, highly visible disease known as alopecia universalis, which has no cure or approved long term treatment.

The disease causes the loss of almost all body hair.
According to scientists involved in the trial, the patient also grew eyebrows, eyelashes, and facial, armpit, and other hair.

“The results are exactly what we hoped for,” said Brett A. King, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine and senior author of a paper reporting the results online June 18 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. “This is a huge step forward in the treatment of patients with this condition. While it’s one case, we anticipated the successful treatment of this man based on our current understanding of the disease and the drug. We believe the same results will be duplicated in other patients, and we plan to try.”

The drug, called tofacitinib citrate has also been used successfully for treating psoriasis.
King has submitted a proposal for a clinical trial involving the drug.

 

[resu]

No male pattern baldness though but this is great news maybe for AA patients as well.

 

[Anarch]

No male pattern baldness though but this is great news maybe for AA patients as well.

What if this was a brute-force way that activated all your follicles instead of treating male pattern baldness?

 

[I.D WALKER]

Not quite clear on your meaning here. Positively fascinating read. Thanx for sharing.

What if this was a brute-force way that activated all your follicles instead of treating male pattern baldness?

 

[HustlingBaldly]

This is great news for people suffering from AU.

 

[2bald2young]

Such a misleading title, but a still great finding for AU sufferers.

 

[benjt]

Awesome. Apparently not a single one of you read the paper.

Important quote from the paper:

We identified tofacitinib as a promising agent and began treatment. [...] Tofacitinib citrate is a novel small molecule selective Janus kinase 1/3 (JAK 1/3) inhibitor. [...] JAK inhibition has myriad effects on T-lymphocytes, and therefore it is not surprising that this medication may be useful in the treatment of many inflammatory diseases.

 

[waynakyo]

Benjt, i hear you, worth looking into this. It has been approved by fda so maybe someday someone will try it topically for inflammation...

 

[shivers20]

I think this is a huge discovery. They already make it in a topical form, it reduces inflammation, IL-6 to name one. Another anti-inflammatory drug growing hair similar to the Benaxoprofen & Sulfasalazine cases.

 

[Python]

Holy crap this is huge news. I have tried some cream for psoriasis before in the scalp that had those exact side effects or at least warnings for about 8 months and I didn't get any regrowth at all but didn't get sick either. I am asuming these is all oral and would need a scientist to let us know if we can use it topically.

Benjt, I need you to clean out your private messages, I need to ask you a question, please.

 

[IDW2BB]

What gives me hope is that his follicles were basically shut down for seven years and once allowed to operate correctly, they functioned normally.

 

[benjt]

What the study is missing, however, is any account on what state the follicles of the patient were in pre-treatment. There are three scenarios for the patient's follicles:

1. The follicles were dead tissue and completely destroyed by his condition, likely by his immune cells (lymphocites).
2. Like in the inflammatory response in Androgenetic Alopecia, PGD2 levels rose drammatically, forcing the follicles to miniaturize but not to die off, and the tissue around it to become fibrotic.
3. Anything else.

The scenarios determine three different implications for potential Androgenetic Alopecia/male pattern baldness treatment:

1. In this case, this drug might show efficacy in treating Androgenetic Alopecia/male pattern baldness too, because if the follicles were dead it means that the drug triggered hair follicle neogenesis. I consider this to be unlikely, though, as the drug indirectly targets lymphocites. I see no reason there why it should trigger neogenesis, but I could be wrong.
2. In this case as well, this drug could potentially treat Androgenetic Alopecia/male pattern baldness successfully, because it is the inflammatory condition of the scalp in Androgenetic Alopecia/male pattern baldness that renders hair follicles unable to produce new hair.
3. If the drug had any other mode of action, it is very likely not useful for treating Androgenetic Alopecia/male pattern baldness.

@Python: Deleted some PMs, thanks for pointing it out.

 

[karankaran]

This drug for arthritis costs $2055 a month for a 10 mg per day dose (5 mg twice daily) - i guess this is the dosage that was used in the study. Just a factoid.

I was just interested to know the price.

The funny thing is that we do not know everything about male pattern baldness and yet i find people at other places saying very confidently that it will not help male pattern baldness sufferers. I mean, Yeah, i get it that some things are known and one can rule stuff out BUT one does not know how this drug works at growing hair and new discoveries are made for male pattern baldness, So i am not too sure if we can rule this one out for male pattern baldness.

- - - Updated - - -

Something I found about JAK inhibitors. This drug inhibits JAK.

"Yet, it is unclear how these drugs specifically help improve symptoms. “My suspicion is that JAK inhibitorsblock multiple cytokines,” explains John O’Shea, MD, scientific director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases who has worked with Pfizer on the development and research of jakinibs. “There are more than 200 cytokines and about 60 of them use the JAK pathway. In all the autoimmune diseases we have, we don’t know exactly which cytokine is the trouble maker.”"

- - - Updated - - -

However,,,,,Some SEVERE SERIOUS WARNINGS at
http://www.rxlist.com/xeljanz-drug.htm

 

[benjt]

However,,,,,Some SEVERE SERIOUS WARNINGS at
http://www.rxlist.com/xeljanz-drug.htm

Not exactly surprising. This drug is a universal anti-lymphocite agent. Effectively, this drug induces a similar state to AIDS. Maybe not as strong as AIDS, but the effect is very similar. In both cases, lymphocites are knocked out in great numbers, leaving the door open for serious infections or diseases that were, until the treatment, held under control by your immune system.

 

[moskva]

This drug for arthritis costs $2055 a month for a 10 mg per day dose (5 mg twice daily) - i guess this is the dosage that was used in the study. Just a factoid.

I was just interested to know the price.

The funny thing is that we do not know everything about male pattern baldness and yet i find people at other places saying very confidently that it will not help male pattern baldness sufferers. I mean, Yeah, i get it that some things are known and one can rule stuff out BUT one does not know how this drug works at growing hair and new discoveries are made for male pattern baldness, So i am not too sure if we can rule this one out for male pattern baldness.

- - - Updated - - -

Something I found about JAK inhibitors. This drug inhibits JAK.

"Yet, it is unclear how these drugs specifically help improve symptoms. “My suspicion is that JAK inhibitorsblock multiple cytokines,” explains John O’Shea, MD, scientific director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases who has worked with Pfizer on the development and research of jakinibs. “There are more than 200 cytokines and about 60 of them use the JAK pathway. In all the autoimmune diseases we have, we don’t know exactly which cytokine is the trouble maker.”"

- - - Updated - - -

However,,,,,Some SEVERE SERIOUS WARNINGS at
http://www.rxlist.com/xeljanz-drug.htm

Sure, it is true that the lymphocytes involved in male pattern baldness are also activated by certain cytokines, but the cytokines involved in AU, RA, psoriasis, etc. are mainly different from those involved in male pattern baldness, asthma, etc. from what we already know. If we find out what the "60 of them" actually are, is there an overlap with the those involved in male pattern baldness, we may have a clearer idea. But
$2055 per month with lethal side effects and unknown effectiveness for male pattern baldness is not something we should get excited about...

 

[I.D WALKER]

Obviously no one read the article?

Awesome. Apparently not a single one of you read the paper.

Important quote from the paper:

- - - Updated - - -

+1

What gives me hope is that his follicles were basically shut down for seven years and once allowed to operate correctly, they functioned normally.

 

[IDW2BB]

Obviously no one read the article?

- - - Updated - - -

+1

More than 1 article:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...is-drug-regrow-completely-bald-mans-hair.html

 

[Cherry329]

Quite excited to see this. I started with areata when I was 8, but by my 20's it developed into universalis. However, I do retain some lashes and eyebrows, tho' they are sparse. But, anyhow, I just made an appt. with my Doctor for July 3. I am definitely going to give it a whirl. After so many years-I'm 55 and female- I've learned to live with it. The self confidence is not a problem, but it will be so nice to go without a wig if it works. I get so warm at times. Everyone I know, knows I have the disease, but I prefer to wear a wig because I look better with it, frankly.

 

[Armando Jose]

very good for alopecia universal suffers.

Not advisable to Androgenetic Alopecia,
Probably ciclosporin can make the same effect

 

[I.D WALKER]

Best regards to your courageous undertaking. Please check in some time Cherry if you care to share your post treatment experience.

Quite excited to see this. I started with areata when I was 8, but by my 20's it developed into universalis. However, I do retain some lashes and eyebrows, tho' they are sparse. But, anyhow, I just made an appt. with my Doctor for July 3. I am definitely going to give it a whirl. After so many years-I'm 55 and female- I've learned to live with it. The self confidence is not a problem, but it will be so nice to go without a wig if it works. I get so warm at times. Everyone I know, knows I have the disease, but I prefer to wear a wig because I look better with it, frankly.