A man who had absolutely no hair on his body has had a hair raising experience after literally growning a full head of hair on his previously bald head and body thanks to an existing arthritis drug.
The 25-year-old patient suffered from alopecia universalis, a disease that results in a loss of all of body hair and the development of plaque psoriasis (scaly red areas of skin). This was the first reported case of a successful treatment for the rare disease using the method developed by researchers at Yale University, including Dr. Brett A. King, who thought it might be possible to treat both the alopecia and plaque psoriasis using an FDA-approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis, called tofacitinib citrate. The drug has been used previosuly to treat psoriasis in humans and a form of alopecia in mice.
The anonymous hairless male patient was treated with 10 milligrams of the drug on a daily basis for two months before hair sprouted on his scalp and face, the first such growth in seven years. After taking 15 milligrams daily for an additional three month, he noticed that the hair growth had advanced to his eyebrows, eyelashes and armpits. The patient reported no side effects, and no lab abnormalities were observed. The drug is believed to work by halting the immune system attack that causes the disease.
"The results are exactly what we hoped for," said King, an assistant professor of dermatology at Yale University School of Medicine and the senior author of a paper. "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."
