Platelet-rich plasma injections in the treatment of male androgenetic alopecia: A randomized placebo-controlled crossover study.

BACKGROUND

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment for androgenetic alopecia (AGA) has been increasingly used, yet there remains a dearth of data on the effectiveness of this approach.

AIM

To compare the efficacy and safety of physically activated PRP injections vs placebo in the treatment of male AGA.

METHODS

Twenty-five healthy male patients with AGA were enrolled in a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study with the treatments of PRP and placebo. Treatment efficacy was measured by calculating the hair density as the average of two independent blind measurements.

RESULTS

In the group that received placebo first (Group 2), we detected a significant increase in hair density at the secondary endpoints after PRP treatment (P = .014). There was a greater proportion of patients with low-grade alopecia in this group (53.3%) compared to Group 1 (30%).

CONCLUSION

This study provides data supporting the positive effects of PRP treatment on AGA in males, but further studies are needed to identify those factors that might affect PRP treatment performance, such as the stage of the disease.