Al Sayed Mahgoob R, Algamal EE, Elshahat OM, et al. - In treating severe alopecia areata, mesalazine could be considered equally effective as azathioprine with lesser side effects. Azathioprine is also regarded as a safe option.

• This study involved 30 patients with severe alopecia areata; group A comprised 15 cases managed using azathioprine in an oral dose of 1–2 mg/kg/day and group B included 15 patients who were given mesalazine in an oral dose of 15–30 mg/kg/day in two divided doses.

• In both groups, mean SALT scores showed statistically significant difference post-6 months of treatment compared to pretreatment values.

• In group A, SALT score changed from 84.42 ± 17.41 at baseline to 35.95 ± 35.79 post-6 months of treatment; such difference was from 73.06 ± 22.10 (baseline) to 23.04± 12.27 (6 months after treatment) in group B.

• Alterations in SALT score post-6 months were −27.74 ± 20.66 in group A and −60.42±38.41 in group B.