IH -- Actos, a diabetes drug being used for scarring alopecia

IH,

I thought you would find this very interesting. Apparently, they are now prescribing a type II diabetes drug called Actos as a treatment for people with scarring alopecia's (this is totally different than MPB for anyone who doesn't know).

They found the link between the lipid processing and the disease.

Here's the article I read on it.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this as it seems very interesting that they are now finding that treating this kind of hair loss with a diabetes drug works since most of your natural regimen is anti-diabetes.

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Glitazones creating buzz for scarring alopecia.

by Jancin, Bruce
Skin & Allergy News • June, 2009 • DERMATOLOGY THERAPY
SAN FRANCISCO -- Recent research on a possible new treatment for scarring alopecia has generated considerable buzz among hair disorder experts.

The research, led by Pratima Karnik, Ph.D., and investigators at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and the University of California, San Francisco, found that the initiating event in the pathogenesis of scarring alopecia may be loss of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma function. Their finding paves the way for clinical trials testing the hypothesis that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (ppar)-gamma upregulation may offer a novel means of treating scarring alopecia. The ppar-gamma agonists, thiazolidinediones and glitazones, are prescribed for glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes.

"This work about ppar-gamma is just so exciting. In just the next year or two, it could [make a difference] in the way we treat patients with cicatricial alopecia," said Dr. Kenneth Washenik at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.

"This is a really, really important milestone paper," said Dr. Washenik, a dermatologist at New York University and medical director at Bosley Medical, the nation's largest hair restoration group.

Similarly, Dr. George Cotsarelis, director of the hair and scalp clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, said the findings "represent a great leap forward in the field of scarring hair loss."

The ground-breaking report included several related studies (J. Invest. Dermatol. 2008;129:1066-70). In one, the investigators performed gene microarray analysis using scalp biopsy specimens from patients with lichen planopilaris (LPP)--an inflammatory scarring hair disorder--and from normal controls. LPP patients had reduced expression of genes required for lipid metabolism and production of peroxisomes.

Immunohistochemical studies in lesional and uninvolved skin of LPP patients showed progressive loss of ppargamma activity and local accumulation of unprocessed lipids.

These lipids appeared to be proinflammatory. In areas of lesional skin they were accompanied by production of proinflammatory cytokines and infiltration of inflammatory cells, followed by the hallmark of LPP: the destruction of sebaceous glands and hair follicles, with resultant scarring.

The investigators also showed that ppar-gamma agonists induced peroxisomal and lipid metabolic gene expression in keratinocytes.

The clincher in making a case for loss of ppar-gamma function being the key initiating event in the pathogenesis of LPP--and by inference in the other cicatricial alopecia as well involved the investigators' work with transgenic mice. The team created a knockout mouse model lacking ppar-gamma in follicular stem cells. These mice gradually developed a progressive scarring alopecia beginning at about age 4 weeks, with complete scarring alopecia by 4 months.

The mouse's scarring alopecia looked histologically just like LPP: dystrophic hair follicles, follicular plugging, perifollicular fibrosis, and, most importantly, dystrophic sebaceous glands with perifollicular and interstitial inflammation.

Dr. Washenik noted that these new LPP studies are merely the latest in a series of reports suggesting a variety of potential dermatologic applications for glitazones.

The past several years have brought reports of clinical efficacy for psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, hirsutism, angiosarcoma, and other skin conditions, as summarized in a review by Dr. Alan S. Boyd of Vanderbilt University, Nashville (Int. J. Dermatol. 2007;46:557-63).

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hadrion - Some of the anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin are mediated by the upregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma) activation. So no need to take the very dangerous drug Actos. In fact, the inhbition of TGF-beta by Curcumin is related to its PPAR-gamma activation I believe.