The Evaluation of JAK Inhibitors on Effect and Safety in Alopecia Areata: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 2018 Patients

June 2023 in “ Frontiers in immunology ”

Meiqi Mao, Yuxin Ding, Jing Jing, Zhenwei Tang, Yujie Miao, Xiaoshuang Yang, Yuhong Chen, Sheng-zhao Chen, Xianjie Wu, Lu Zhang

JAK inhibitors alopecia areata hair regrowth SALT 50 SALT 90 SALT 5 adverse effects

TLDR JAK inhibitors help hair regrowth in alopecia areata but have a high risk of side effects.

This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the efficacy and safety of JAK inhibitors in the treatment of alopecia areata, including data from 6 randomized controlled trials with 1455 patients and 26 observational studies with 563 patients. The results showed that JAK inhibitors significantly improved hair regrowth, with odds ratios (ORs) for achieving 50% and 90% hair regrowth (SALT 50 and SALT 90) being 5.08 and 7.40, respectively, compared to placebo in randomized trials. Observational studies reported 71% of patients achieved at least 5% hair regrowth (SALT 5), and the weighted mean difference (WSD) in SALT score improvement was -2.18 compared to baseline. However, adverse effects were common, occurring in 921 of 1508 patients, and 30 patients discontinued treatment due to adverse reactions. The study was limited by a small number of randomized controlled trials and insufficient data. In conclusion, JAK inhibitors are effective for alopecia areata but come with an increased risk of adverse effects.

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