5 ms·

Immunosuppressants can have a whole load of side-effects since you're effectively nuking the body's natural defence mechanism. The ones I've used (Prednisone, f

by NamTaf 12y ago

Immunosuppressants can have a whole load of side-effects since you're effectively nuking the body's natural defence mechanism. The ones I've used (Prednisone, for asthma and allergies) have always been in pill form which is untargetted, so whilst you may knock off the immune response causing the primary symptom, you also shut down a whole host of other systems too. This has been one of the biggest side-effects for me. What will be interesting is whether a topical cream can perform targetted application of this - shove it on your scalp for a few months and it locally modulates the immune response to the follicles and allows for hair growth. I'm not nearly familiar enough with the medical processes behind this to know whether you can do this or whether it has to be regulated at some other location. As an aside, the whole field of computational medical research excites me. Folding@Home and the like have been the first foray into this, but I suspect we'll see a continued rapid expansion of this as we harness huge computational capability to explore modifications to processes to discover a whole host of unknown but useful side-effects from existing medications. I suspect it's likely the next big field.

mglukhovsky 12y ago
Steroids like Prednisone were the recommended course of treatment by doctors when I was first diagnosed -- a massive dose of oral steroids for months. Rheumatologists said in no uncertain terms that this was likely going to have complications and long-term health consequences. I decided it wasn't worth it for what amounts to a cosmetic change. From what I've read, tofacitinib is a a JAK inhibitor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus_kinase_inhibitor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus_kinase_inhibitor), as opposed to a cortoicosteroid like Prednisone. It inhibits the activity of a very specific family of enzymes that play a part in regulation of the immune system (cytokine signalling). It makes a ton of sense to dispense it as a topical cream to limit the potentially complex side effects. I'm also curious whether it's more or less effective for scarring vs. non-scarring alopecia, since scarring alopecia is characterized by active inflammation, and tofacitinib is supposed to be successful in reducing inflammation at the right dosage. If someone has more background in this area, I'd appreciate more details. JAK inhibitors seem like an exciting area of research!
- med_student 12y ago
  I'm sure that whoever is making this drug is already 10 times ahead of any of us in monetizing this for commercial hair loss applications. I'll give it my best shot. The reason steroidal creams work is because the steroids are lipid soluble and their mechanism of action involves penetrating cell membranes and bindings to transcription factors in the cytoplasm/nucleus. A tyrosine kinase inhibitor wouldn't be lipid soluble and therefore wouldn't be able to diffuse across the skin or into the capillaries feeding the hair follicles which is where I'm assuming the positive effect is coming from. (Turning off White Blood Cells).
- taeric 12y ago
  Not only were there likely to be side effects of the Prednisone, it didn't really work. Only plus side, for me, was that the side effects didn't hit me hard. When I paid attention and realized there were long term consequences, I stopped. So, good choice in not doing it. :)

by NamTaf 12y ago

mglukhovsky 12y ago

Steroids like Prednisone were the recommended course of treatment by doctors when I was first diagnosed -- a massive dose of oral steroids for months. Rheumatologists said in no uncertain terms that this was likely going to have complications and long-term health consequences. I decided it wasn't worth it for what amounts to a cosmetic change. From what I've read, tofacitinib is a a JAK inhibitor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus_kinase_inhibitor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus_kinase_inhibitor), as opposed to a cortoicosteroid like Prednisone. It inhibits the activity of a very specific family of enzymes that play a part in regulation of the immune system (cytokine signalling). It makes a ton of sense to dispense it as a topical cream to limit the potentially complex side effects. I'm also curious whether it's more or less effective for scarring vs. non-scarring alopecia, since scarring alopecia is characterized by active inflammation, and tofacitinib is supposed to be successful in reducing inflammation at the right dosage. If someone has more background in this area, I'd appreciate more details. JAK inhibitors seem like an exciting area of research!

med_student 12y ago
I'm sure that whoever is making this drug is already 10 times ahead of any of us in monetizing this for commercial hair loss applications. I'll give it my best shot. The reason steroidal creams work is because the steroids are lipid soluble and their mechanism of action involves penetrating cell membranes and bindings to transcription factors in the cytoplasm/nucleus. A tyrosine kinase inhibitor wouldn't be lipid soluble and therefore wouldn't be able to diffuse across the skin or into the capillaries feeding the hair follicles which is where I'm assuming the positive effect is coming from. (Turning off White Blood Cells).
taeric 12y ago
Not only were there likely to be side effects of the Prednisone, it didn't really work. Only plus side, for me, was that the side effects didn't hit me hard. When I paid attention and realized there were long term consequences, I stopped. So, good choice in not doing it. :)