Original article
A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled pilot study to assess the efficacy of a 24-week topical treatment by latanoprost 0.1% on hair growth and pigmentation in healthy volunteers with androgenetic alopecia

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2011.05.026Get rights and content

Background

Latanoprost is a prostaglandin analogue used to treat glaucoma. It can cause adverse effects, such as iridial and periocular hyperpigmentation, and eyelash changes including pigmentation and increased thickness, length, and number. Latanoprost has been used to treat eyelash alopecia, but knowledge on its effects on human scalp hair growth is not available.

Objective

The primary objectives were to assess the efficacy of latanoprost on hair growth and pigmentation. The secondary objectives were to assess the effect on scalp pigmentation; investigate the treatment duration needed to affect hair growth, hair pigmentation, and scalp pigmentation; and assess safety of latanoprost.

Methods

Sixteen men with mild androgenetic alopecia (Hamilton II-III) were included. Latanoprost 0.1% and placebo were applied daily for 24 weeks on two minizones on the scalp. Measurements on hair growth, density, diameter, pigmentation, and anagen/telogen ratio were performed throughout the study.

Results

At 24 weeks, an increased hair density on the latanoprost-treated site was observed compared with baseline (n = 16, P < .001) and placebo-treated site (P = .0004).

Limitations

Only young men with mild androgenetic alopecia were included. The results may not be applicable to other patient groups. Choice of investigational site may have affected the results.

Conclusions

Latanoprost significantly increased hair density (terminal and vellus hairs) at 24 weeks compared with baseline and the placebo-treated area. Latanoprost could be useful in stimulating hair follicle activity and treating hair loss.

Section snippets

Study design

This was a monocenter, double-blind, randomized pilot study to assess the efficacy of a 24-week topical treatment with latanoprost 0.1% on hair growth and pigmentation in healthy volunteers. The subjects were randomized on location: each subject applied latanoprost on one investigational site and placebo on the other. The trial was conducted at the Clinical Research Center for Hair and Skin Science at the Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany, in 2003 in accordance with the Declaration of

Results

The 16 subjects received the investigational products at two minizones, comparable at randomization, on the frontotemporal regions during 24 weeks. The quantitative data at baseline were also comparable as measured by TrichoScan (Tricholog GmbH).

Discussion

This proof of concept study investigated the influence of latanoprost versus placebo on hair growth and pigmentation in healthy volunteers with androgenetic alopecia. Differences in favor of latanoprost could be seen in the clinical evaluation from 12 weeks of treatment onward (n = 3), and in 50% of the study population (n = 8) at 24 weeks. The differences concerned hair density, associated with increased hair pigmentation (n = 4) and thickness (n = 3).

The investigational sites differed in hair

Conclusion

In this pilot study, latanoprost significantly increased overall hair density and the number of vellus and terminal hairs compared with baseline and the placebo-treated area after 8 weeks of topical treatment. This suggests that latanoprost could be useful for treating androgenetic alopecia. More research is needed to determine the optimal dose and treatment duration of latanoprost or other candidate prostaglandin analogues.

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    Supported by a research grant for the L’Oréal Civatte Professorship (Dr Blume-Peytavi).

    Conflicts of interest: None declared.

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