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Light exposure needed for vitiligo treatment with JAK inhibitors

Half of a small cohort of patients with vitiligo who were treated with tofacitinib and light exposure experienced repigmentation, according to recent findings.

The retrospective case series investigating tofacitinib, a janus kinase (JAK) 1/3 inhibitor, included 10 consecutive patients evaluated for severity of disease defined by proportion of body surface area impacted by the disease.

The study drug was administered at a dose of 5 mg to 10 mg once or twice daily.

Some repigmentation occurred among five patients who were exposed to sunlight or underwent low-dose narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy, according to results. The patients who responded experienced a mean decrease of 5.4% body surface area impacted by vitiligo.

Researchers also sampled suction blisters of patients and found that autoimmune response was inhibited during treatment in lesions that responded to treatment and in those that did not respond. This suggests “that light rather than immunosuppression was primarily required for melanocyte regeneration,” the researchers wrote.

Patients were treated for an average duration of 9.9 months (range, 3-15 months).

Other findings indicated that no repigmentation was reported among the five non-responders.

“Treatment of vitiligo with JAK inhibitors appears to require light exposure,” the researchers concluded. “In contrast to treatment with phototherapy alone, repigmentation during treatment with JAK inhibitors may require only low-level light. Maintenance of repigmentation may be achieved with JAK inhibitor monotherapy.” – by Rob Volansky

Disclosures: Liu reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.