A Patient with Beard Hair Loss Resistant to Steroids Successfully Treated with Baricitinib

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, March 19, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disorder causing hair loss due to the body’s own cells attacking hair follicles. While it can affect any hair-baring region of the body, alopecia areata of the beard can be particularly distressing. Topical corticosteroids are most commonly used as initial treatment, followed by injection of steroids into the diseased areas, but there is limited data on what to do when this fails.

In this new study in SKIN: The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine^®, Melissa Zundell, BS and her coauthors present a case of the successful treatment of steroid-resistant beard alopecia areata with baricitinib, a JAK-1/2 inhibitor, in a 37-year-old male. Prior treatments, including topical ruxolitinib and steroid injections, had failed. Over 9 months, baricitinib and oral minoxidil led to reduced hair loss patches, increased hair density, and resolved inflammation.

Baricitinib, an oral Janus kinase (JAK)-1/2 inhibitor, is recently the first FDA-approved treatment for adults with severe alopecia areata. Yet, its efficacy in beard alopecia areata has not been well established, and there are no clear guidelines for its use in alopecia areata limited to the beard. The authors found that after 9 months of baricitinib treatment, the patient demonstrated significant improvement. Hair loss areas were reduced in size with 50% of the affected area showing evidence of regrowth. There was also an increase in hair density in the affected regions, and the inflammation had gone away. The authors emphasize that more research is still required to have the best treatment guidelines for steroid-resistant beard alopecia areata.

SKIN: The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine^® is a peer-reviewed online medical journal that is the official journal of The National Society for Cutaneous Medicine. The mission of SKIN is to provide an enhanced and accelerated route to disseminate new dermatologic knowledge for all aspects of cutaneous disease.

For more details, please visit www.jofskin.org or contact jofskin@gmail.com.

Reference:
Zundell, M., & Golant, A. . (2024). Treatment of Steroid-Resistant Beard-Restricted Alopecia Areata with Baricitinib . SKIN The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine, 8(2), 1435–1438. https://doi.org/10.25251/skin.8.2.14

Melissa Zundell, BS
Department of Dermatology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount
Melissa.zundell@einsteinmed.edu