Chemokine Receptor CCR5 as a Novel Target for the Treatment of Alopecia Areata

August 2016 in “ Journal of Investigative Dermatology ”

Taisuke Ito, Takeshi Suzuki, Akihiro Funakoshi, Toshiharu Fujiyama, Y. Tokura

CCR5 alopecia areata T lymphocyte hair bulbs CCR5 inhibitor Maraviroc negative allosteric modulator CD4+CCR5+ T cells CD8+CCR5+ T cells chemotactic activity RANTES chemokine receptors chemokines AA HIV drug T cells

TLDR Blocking the CCR5 receptor may be a new way to treat hair loss from alopecia areata.

The document presents findings on the role of the chemokine receptor CCR5 in the treatment of alopecia areata (AA), an autoimmune disease characterized by T lymphocyte infiltration around hair bulbs. The study involved C3H/HeJ mice with AA, which were treated with the CCR5 inhibitor Maraviroc, an HIV drug that acts as a negative allosteric modulator of the CCR5 receptor. The treatment was administered orally following the induction of AA lesions in the mice. Results showed that 4 out of 5 Maraviroc-treated mice exhibited improvement in hair loss lesions after 2 weeks. Immunohistological assessments and FACS analysis revealed a decreased number of CD4+CCR5+ and CD8+CCR5+ T cells in the lesions, and a significant inhibition of the chemotactic activity of CD4+ lymph node cells towards RANTES after Maraviroc treatment. The study concludes that targeting chemokine receptors/chemokines with inhibitors like Maraviroc could be a novel approach for treating AA.

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