April 18 2006, 11:32 am PT | Posted in: Diseases + Drugs
will curis cure alopecia universalis?
There is no information on the actions of this drug as it is not released at this time. The drug manufacturer would be banned from releasing such information until FDA studies are complete. See previous Curis posts.
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Hi Dr Rassman,
“There is no information on the actions of this drug”
In the animal (mice) study which looked at the mechanism of action of the hedgehog pathway on hair biology and side effects (up to 6 months) they found that a ONE time application was sufficient to kick the hair into the growth phase. As you are all aware the hair cycle is split up into different phases. The hedgehog (Hh) pathway when turned on, stimulates the hair follicle into the growth phase.
It is also important to note that when this pathway is knocked out in the embryo you don’t get ANY hair on mice. This tells us that this pathway is vital for hair growth and formation.
Once again please note that this pathway is STRONGLY associated with lethal cancers. So the key for this thing to work is KEEP it to a one time application and don’t put too much of the cream on. So doctors will have to apply this to patients. Also, this will not create hair follicles, but if you have follicles it should stimulate them into the growth phase.
Also an important thing to note is that the mice model is not human and mice grow hair(or is it fur?) and their hair is typically all in the same cycle where as humans hair is typically all in different cycles. Please correct me if I’m wrong on this.
If you want more details
email me
hedgehog@pathway2curis.com