Platelet-Rich Plasma: A Potential Steroid-Free Treatment for Alopecia Areata

Researchers found that the use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in the treatment of alopecia areata (AA) is a promising topical, steroid-free treatment modality.

“The first line of treatment in patchy AA is triamcinolone acetonide; however, the efficacy of the treatment varies greatly,” explained the researchers of the systematic review. “Our aim was to investigate the therapeutic effects of [PRP] in the treatment of AA.”

The research team reviewed randomized clinical trials across four databases. They included trials that reported on patients with AA who were treated with PRP and compared PRP with triamcinolone acetonide or a placebo. Of note, the primary outcome was the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score.

Following their review, the systematic search provided 2747 articles and four were eligible for quantitative analysis.

According to the findings, the pooled mean differences among the PRP and triamcinolone acetonide groups did not show a significant difference in the mean change in the SALT score (MD =-2.04, CI: -4.72-0.65; I² = 80.4%, P = 0.14).

“PRP is a promising topical, steroid-free treatment modality in the therapy of AA,” concluded the researchers.

“No significant difference was found between PRP and [triamcinolone acetonide] treatment; however, further high-quality [randomized clinical trials] are needed to further assess the efficacy of PRP treatment and strengthen the quality of evidence.”

Reference:
Meznerics FA, Illés K, Dembrovszky F, et al. Platelet-rich plasma in alopecia areata—a steroid-free treatment modality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials. Biomedicines. 2022;10(8):1829. doi:10.3390/biomedicines10081829