Efficacy of Platelet-Rich Plasma plus Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor on the Treatment of Androgenic Alopecia

Importance: Studies have identified platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as a novel adjuvant therapy in AGA. However, the efficacy of PRP still needs to be improved. Objective: To assess the efficacy of PRP plus basic fibroblast growth factor (PRPF) for the treatment of AGA. Design, setting, and participants: This was a prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, half-head study. 80 patients whose AGA staged Norwood-Hamilton III–VII or Ludwig I–III were enrolled in the study from February 2019 to September 2019. Interventions: Patients were randomly divided into two groups of 40 patients each and were given the following treatment: (Group1) PRPF was injected in right-half and left-half with placebo; (Group2) PRPF was injected in right-half and left-half with PRP. Main outcomes and measures: The treatment was processed 3 times, 1 month apart. Hair growth parameters were evaluated by trichoscope monthly until the sixth month of the study. Patients’ satisfaction, hair pull test and side effects were recorded during follow-up. Results Of the 80 patients included in the study, 47 were men and 33 were women with a mean age of 28.96±4.82 (ranged from 21 to 46). Both PRP and PRPF showed positive improvement (p<0.05) on hair count, terminal hair and anagen hair after the treatment. Efficacy of PRPF revealed a significant improvement(p<0.05) in hair count, terminal hair, vellus hair and anagen hair versus PRP. There was no statistical difference among any of the parameters in the placebo group. Conclusions and Relevance PRPF can be a safe and valuable form of AGA treatment, and has proven to be more effective than PRP. Trial registration. Reviewed and approved by research ethics board at Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University NFEC-2019-212