Cyclosporine and Male-Pattern Alopecia

To the Editor.—  Cyclosporine, an immunosuppressive agent approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for use for prevention of rejection in organ transplantation, has been used experimentally in various dermatologic conditions.^1,2 Hypertrichosis has been reported to occur in 60% of kidney transplant recipients treated with cyclosporine.³ Recently, there have been reports of cyclosporine producing hair growth in patients with alopecia areata.^4,5 To our knowledge, there has been no report of cyclosporine improving male-pattern alopecia.

Report of a Case.—  A 48-year-old man who had had diffuse psoriasis since the age of 18 years was referred to us for treatment in May 1986, after developing bone marrow suppression from hydroxyurea.⁶ He had been previously well-controlled with methotrexate sodium, but liver fibrosis developed. Light therapy had failed to improve his condition. He also had alopecia type II according to the Hamilton scale.⁷ We elected to treat him