Microneedle Patch Reverses Alopecia Hair Loss

Medical Design Briefs INSIDER

The novel approach holds promise for painlessly delivering immune regulators to affected areas of the skin. (Credit: Advanced Science News)

A novel treatment approach holds promise for painlessly delivering immune regulators to affected areas of the skin, promoting hair regrowth caused by alopecia areata.

Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by hair loss, which occurs when T cells of the immune system mistakenly attack hair follicles. To restore control over hyperactive immune cells, investigators developed a cutting-edge approach to deliver T cell regulators directly to sites of hair loss and halt autoimmune activity.

The approach tested in this study marks a departure from current therapeutic strategies, which typically utilize immunosuppressants to suppress the immune system. Rather than globally suppressing the immune system, the researchers aimed to locally restore well-controlled immune activity directly at sites of hair loss by increasing levels of Tregs, whose numbers are reduced in AA. This targeted approach was achieved with a microneedle patch, which delivers drugs across the tough outer layer of skin more effectively than topical creams and avoids stimulation of pain receptors, which are located deeper within the skin.

While topical therapy often fails to penetrate the skin's outer layer, these patches improve the local delivery of biologics to the deeper layers of diseased skin and reprogram the immune system to generate tolerance at the site of antigen encounter, according to the researchers.

The microneedle patch was also found to have good shelf-life stability, improving prospects of its clinical translation. While the therapy is not ready for clinical use, the researchers are pursuing further development and testing. Additionally, they are exploring the possibility of applying their approach to other immune-mediated skin diseases, such as vitiligo and psoriasis.

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