730 Elevated levels of caveolin-1 in frontal fibrosing alopecia, central centrifugal cicatricial alopecia and lichen planopilaris suggests a conserved pathway in pathogenesis of scarring alopecia

Abstract

Cicatricial alopecias (CAs) are a disfiguring and difficult to treat types of hair disorder that are associated with distressing scalp symptoms and significant secondary morbidity, marked psychological impact, and significant loss of quality of life. The purpose of our study was to generate a proof-of-principle for a fundamentally innovative strategy for treating CAs by therapeutically targeting caveolin-1 (Cav1), which is the principal structural component of specialized membrane microdomains, using cholesterol depleting agents (cyclodextrins), in full length human ex vivo human hair follicle (HF) organ culture and in vivo mouse models.