Jump to content

New drugs for baldness cure


harin

Recommended Posts

  • Senior Member

sounds really promising but it's my understanding that it's not for pattern baldness it's for people who suffer with(AA) androgenic areata. which is great because they deserve it much more then us pattern baldness sufferes.

Edited by Wwiizzkkiidd24
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

Inhibiting a family of enzymes inside hair follicles that are suspended in a resting state restores hair growth, a new study from researchers at Columbia University Medical Center has found. The research was published today in the online edition of*Science Advances.

 

In experiments with mouse and human hair follicles, Angela M. Christiano, PhD, and colleagues found that drugs that inhibit the Janus kinase (JAK) family of enzymes promote rapid and robust hair growth when directly applied to the skin.

 

The study raises the possibility that drugs known as JAK inhibitors could be used to restore hair growth in multiple forms of hair loss such as that induced by male pattern baldness, and additional types that occur when hair follicles are trapped in a resting state. Two JAK inhibitors have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. One is approved for treatment of blood diseases (ruxolitinib) and the other for rheumatoid arthritis (tofacitinib). Both are being tested in clinical trials for the treatment of plaque psoriasis and alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss.

 

"What we've found is promising, though we haven't yet shown it is effective for male pattern baldness," said Dr. Christiano. "More work needs to be done to test formulations of JAK inhibitors specially made for the scalp to determine whether they can induce hair growth in humans."

 

Christiano and her colleagues serendipitously discovered the effect of JAK inhibitors on hair follicles when they were studying a type of hair loss known as alopecia areata, caused by an autoimmune attack on the hair follicles. Christiano and colleagues reported last year that JAK inhibitors shut off the signal that provokes the autoimmune attack, and that oral forms of the drug restore hair growth in some people with the disorder.

 

In the course those experiments, Dr. Christiano noticed that mice grew more hair when the drug was applied topically to the skin than when given internally. This suggested JAK inhibitors might have a direct effect on the hair follicles in addition to inhibiting the immune attack.

 

When the researchers looked more closely at normal mouse hair follicles, they found that JAK inhibitors rapidly awakened resting follicles out of dormancy. Hair follicles do not produce hair constantly but rather by cycling between resting and growing phases.

 

JAK inhibitors trigger the follicles' normal reawakening process, the researchers found. Mice treated for five days with one of two JAK inhibitors sprouted new hair within 10 days, greatly accelerating the hair follicle growth phase. No hair grew on untreated control mice in the same time period.

 

"There are very few compounds that can push hair follicles into their growth cycle so quickly," said Dr. Christiano. "Some topical agents induce tufts of hair here and there after a few weeks, but very few have such a potent and rapid-acting effect." The drugs also produce longer hair from human hair follicles grown in culture and on skin grafted onto mice.

 

It's likely that the drugs that are so effective in enhancing hair growth in the mice could affect the same pathways in human follicles, suggesting they could induce new hair growth and extend the growth of existing hairs in humans.

 

It remains to be seen if JAK inhibitors can reawaken hair follicles that have been suspended in a resting state because of androgenetic alopecia (which causes male and female pattern baldness) or other forms of hair loss. So far, all the experiments have been conducted in normal mice and human follicles. Experiments to address hair follicles affected by hair loss disorders are under way.

 

The title of the paper is: Pharmacologic inhibition of JAK-STAT signaling promotes hair growth. Other CUMC authors: Sivan Harel, Claire Higgins (now at Imperial College London) Jane E. Cerise, Zhenpeng Dai, James C. Chen, and Raphael Clynes (now at Bristol-Myers Squib).

 

The work was supported in part by the NIH (grants R01AR056016, P30AR044535, T32GM082771 and T32GM007088), Locks of Love Foundation, Alopecia Areata Initiative, and the Dermatology Foundation (Career Development Award).

 

copied and pasted from a website. That's much easier. ha.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wwizz,

 

You're correct. These drugs are essentially immune system modifiers, which is why they affect auto-immune (over active immune system) related alopecias.

 

However, the researchers are saying they now want to test the drugs in androgenic alopecia. They seem confident that it will play some role, but I'm not quite certain as to how. There is absolutely some inflammatory component to androgenic alopecia, but it's way "down stream" and less relevant compared to the role of the immune system -- and it's subsequent inflammation -- in things like alopecia areata, alopecia totalis, and alopecia univeralsis.

 

What's more, there are absolutely serious side effects with these medications. The immune system is what your body uses to fight diseases. In people with overactive immune systems -- like those with these types of alopecia -- it's okay to tone it down a bit. But suppressing the body's ability to fight diseases in a person with a normal, functioning immune system opens up a whole can of worms!

 

It will be interesting to see what happens with these drugs, but I personally think they will be much more effective and appropriate in those with immune-related alopecias.

Dr. Blake Bloxham is recommended by the Hair Transplant Network.

 

 

Hair restoration physician - Feller and Bloxham Hair Transplantation

 

Previously "Future_HT_Doc" or "Blake_Bloxham" - forum co-moderator and editorial assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, Hair Restoration Network, Hair Loss Q&A blog, and Hair Loss Learning Center.

 

Click here to read my previous answers to hair loss and hair restoration questions, editorials, commentaries, and educational articles.

 

Now practicing hair transplant surgery with Coalition hair restoration physician Dr Alan Feller at our New York practice: Feller and Bloxham Hair Transplantation.

 

Please note: my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

should be interesting how they go about treating mpb with this drug but it could do more harm then good for pattern baldness simply because we have a better immune system then people who suffer from alopecia areata amd other sorts of alopecia. like you said it could open up a whole can of worms.

 

I think the search continues for the cure of pattern baldness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

personally being a physician myself I kind of compare it to intial statin research like Pitavastatin, was found to have horrible toxicities then came others which were more lipid specific and are now being used regularly,though the newer ones have their own set of risk profile and long term side effects. Lets keep our fingers crossed to see if follicle specific drug makes its way around to the market eventually :).

 

Thanks Dr. Blake Bloxham for for your expert input.

My Thread: 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

personally being a physician myself I kind of compare it to intial statin research like Pitavastatin, was found to have horrible toxicities then came others which were more lipid specific and are now being used regularly,though the newer ones have their own set of risk profile and long term side effects. Lets keep our fingers crossed to see if follicle specific drug makes its way around to the market eventually :).

 

Thanks Dr. Blake Bloxham for for your expert input.

My Thread: 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

Yeah. I agree with Blake, the immunosuppressive quality of the drug week kill it for the average person. But, I like to see research in this area anyway.

I am an online representative for Dr. Raymond Konior who is an elite member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.

View Dr. Konior's Website

View Spanker's Website

I am not a medical professional and my opinions should not be taken as medical advice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...