Investigators may have uncovered a link between the use of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors and the incidence of acne, according to a recent systematic review and meta-analysis published by Martinez et al in JAMA Dermatology. Investigators used the Ovid MEDLINE and PubMed databases to analyze the outcomes of 25 phase II and III randomized clinical trials involving nearly 11,000 patients. They found that patients who received JAK inhibitors were 3.83 times (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.76–5.32) more likely to develop acne compared with those who received placebo. They emphasized that abrocitinib (odds ratio [OR] = 13.47, 95% CI = 3.25–55.91), baricitinib (OR = 4.96, 95% CI = 2.52–9.78), upadacitinib (OR = 4.79, 95% CI = 3.61–6.37), deucravacitinib (OR = 2.64, 95% CI = 1.44–4.86), and deruxolitinib (OR = 3.30, 95% CI = 1.22–8.93) were associated with an increased risk of acne. Further, the risk was higher among those receiving JAK inhibitors for dermatologic conditions vs nondermatologic conditions. The investigators concluded that physicians should discuss the risk of acne with patients prior to prescribing JAK inhibitors and that more studies may be needed to better understand the pathophysiology of the correlation.
December 06, 2023