Effectiveness and safety of baricitinib in patients with alopecia areata: a systematic review and Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background Since there is now no medication available that has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune condition that has a detrimental impact on individuals. Recent clinical trials using baricitinib demonstrated that it may be effective in treating AA. This meta-analysis was done to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of baricitinib in comparison to placebo.Methods Author looked through Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PubMed, for all published, randomized, clinical trials.Results This meta-analysis included 1282 participants from two citations (reporting three stand-alone studies). In term of SALT score, baricitinib significantly outperformed placebo; MD = −34.07, 95% CI [–37.90, −30.23], p < .00001. Additionally, the proportion of patients in the baricitinib group that attained SALT ≤ 20 was significantly higher than in the placebo group; RR = 6.41, 95% CI [4.57, 8.98], p < .00001. The results of the safety analysis revealed no significant differences between the baricitinib and placebo groups for any of the outcomes with the exception of acne, which was significantly higher in the placebo group when compared to the baricitinib group (RR= 4.79, 95% CI [2.38, 9.66], p .0001).Conclusion When compared to placebo, baricitinib is an effective and well-tolerated medication for the treatment of AA.