Efficacy of Topical Vorinostat in the Reversal of Alopecia Areata
TLDR Topical Vorinostat shows promise for treating alopecia areata by promoting hair regrowth.
The study investigated the efficacy of topical Vorinostat, an HDAC1/3 inhibitor, in treating alopecia areata (AA), an autoimmune hair loss condition. Using the DeMAND algorithm to analyze gene expression networks from AA patient samples, Vorinostat was identified as a promising repurposable drug. In experiments, daily topical application of 2% Vorinostat in DMSO on mice with AA induced significant hair regrowth within 5 weeks. Additionally, Vorinostat inhibited the production of IFNg in activated mouse lymph node cells in vitro, suggesting its potential to modulate overactive immune responses in AA. This study highlighted the potential of computational drug-repurposing strategies to discover new treatments for AA, for which no FDA-approved drugs existed at the time.
