Screening For Latent Infectious Disease in Patients With Alopecia Areata Before Using JAK Inhibitors
According to a study published in Frontiers in Medicine, prescreening is significantly important before starting patients on Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, particularly for individuals with a high risk of tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and other infections when treating alopecia areata.
Researchers aimed to address the growing evidence supporting the efficacy of JAK inhibitors in treating alopecia areata. However, concerns about the high recurrence rate following drug discontinuation have led to extended treatment courses and raised questions about long-term safety. This emphasizes the need for comprehensive pretreatment screening before initiating JAK inhibitors for alopecia areata and other indications.
The researchers screened data collected from real-world settings before the initiation of JAK inhibitors in patients with alopecia areata. The retrospective medical data included demographic and clinical information such as age, sex, disease duration, severity of alopecia, history of prior treatment, and the treatment regimen.
In a cohort of 218 patients, JAK inhibitors were initiated for 163 individuals with alopecia areata. Screening revealed that 32 patients were positive for antinuclear antibodies, 10 for hepatitis B surface antigen, and none for hepatitis C virus antibodies. Additionally, no patients were positive for human immunodeficiency virus antibodies, but 3 showed positive results for treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay, and 9 had abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone levels. Notably, 37 patients had positive results for T-cell spot or chest imaging indicative of tuberculosis.
“Our data provide additional information on the safety profile of JAK inhibitors in patients with alopecia areata,” concluded the authors.
Reference
Huang J, Tan Z, Tang Y, Shi W. Screening for latent infectious disease in patients with alopecia areata before initiating JAK inhibitors therapy: a single-center real-world retrospective study. Front Med (Lausanne). Published online October 18, 2023. doi:10.3389/fmed.2023.1287139
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