Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors are a novel class of therapy in dermatologic diseases with recent approvals in atopic dermatitis and alopecia areata. touchIMMUNOLOGY caught up with Dr. Raj Chovatiya (Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA) to discuss the rationale for the use of JAK inhibitors in the treatment of inflammatory diseases and the monitoring guidelines associated with their use.
‘JAK inhibitors for atopic dermatitis‘ was presented at AAD 2023, 17-21 March, 2023.
This information is brought to you by Touch Medical Media and is not sponsored by, nor a part of, the AAD. Â
Questions
- What is the rationale for the use of JAK inhibitors in the treatment of inflammatory diseases? (0:17)
- What monitoring guidelines have been associated with the use of JAK inhibitors? (1:21)
Disclosures: Raj Chovatiya discloses consulting for: AbbVie, Apogee, Arcutis, Argenx, ASLAN, Beiersdorf, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cara Therapeutics, Dermavant, Eli Lilly and Company, Galderma, Genentech, Incyte, LEO Pharma, L’Oréal, Novan, Inc., Pfizer Inc., Regeneron, Sanofi, and UCB; participating in speaker’s bureaus with: AbbVie, Arcutis, Beiersdorf, Bristol Myers Squibb, Dermavant, Eli Lilly and Company, Incyte, LEO Pharma, Novan, Inc., Pfizer Inc., Regeneron, Sanofi, and UCB.
Support: Interview and filming supported by Touch Medical Media Ltd. Interview conducted by Victoria Jones.
Filmed in coverage of the 2023 AAD Annual Meeting.
Click here for more content on dermatological conditions.
Transcript
What is the rationale for the use of JAK inhibitors in the treatment of inflammatory diseases? (0:17)
So very broadly speaking, when it comes to inflammatory disease, no matter whether you’re talking about atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, alopecia areata, vitiligo, the immune system is really what underlies a lot of the pathogenesis and in particular immune dysregulation, basically inflammation getting out of whack. So, the actual currency for communication in all of these diseases are cytokines, which are small soluble protein mediators that essentially signal something from cell a to cell B. And the only way that they can actually get that signal across is binding to a receptor. That receptor uses what’s called the JAK STAT signalling program inside of cells to turn that signal on the outside of the cell into something that affects gene transcription and translation and in the long run production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. So you can imagine that if you actually inhibit the signalling pathway through JAK inhibitors, you can actually cut off broad aspects of signalling at a high source and actually make a real dent into inflammatory disease.
What monitoring guidelines have been associated with the use of JAK inhibitors? (1:21)
So bottom line, when it comes to actual practical use of JAK inhibitors, there’s a few things to think about. Let’s focus on baricitinib for a second. At baseline, you’re going to pretty simply be doing a TB and viral hepatitis test and then at baseline, maybe taking a look at a blood count, hepatic function and renal function. You think about doing lipids at 12 weeks in time and really any other labs as clinically indicated. Very simple, that’s it.
Subtitles and transcript are autogenerated.
