The effect of platelet-rich plasma injection in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia

Background: Androgenetic alopecia is the most common type of hair loss in men, which is manifested by a progressive terminal hair loss in specific areas of scalp. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is among treatment options for androgenetic alopecia. PRP is a human platelet concentrate in a small volume of plasma containing certain cytokines. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of autologous PRP in treatment of male androgenetic alopecia. Methods: This was a clinical trial in 19 patients with grade III vertex to grade V androgenetic alopecia referring to the Clinic of Ghaem Hospital between March 2015 and March 2016. All obtained liquid PRP (5 cc) was injected at around 125 points (equals to 125 cm(2)) into the scalp, and operation was repeated in three sessions at 0, 4, and 8 weeks. We took macroscopic and dermoscopic pictures of each patient in 0, 4, and 8 weeks and 3 months after the last injection session. A dermatologist evaluated the treatment response using dermoscopy photos. Result: Our results showed that the trend of hair thickness and number variations during study period was significant (P < 0.001). However, there was no significant change in the hair thickness from the second injection forward. Our findings indicate the number of hair follicles during follow-up in pairwise comparison was significantly more than baseline. Conclusion: Findings of our study were in line with other studies in this field and showed that the use of PRP as a new and safe treatment can be effective in androgenetic alopecia.