Adipose Derived Stem Cells Versus Platelet Rich Plasma on Follicular Unit Extraction

Overview

Androgenetic alopecia is the most common type of alopecia in both men and women. About 80 % of Caucasian men and 40-50 % of Caucasian women are affected by androgenetic alopecia. The psychological impact of hair loss due to Androgenetic alopecia can be profound.

Currently, two medications are Food and Drug Administration approved in the treatment of Androgenetic alopecia which are minoxidil, and finasteride. Both medications must be taken indefinitely for benefits to persist. Hair transplantation is the only current successful permanent option. Nowadays, the majority of surgeons use 2 techniques, the classic strip technique, and the follicular unit extraction technique. Advantages of follicular unit extraction over the strip technique are the lesser incidence of donor zone post-procedural discomfort and the barely visible scarring. Platelet rich plasma is an autologous concentration of platelets in small volume of plasma and is an exciting therapeutic option for hair growth. Combining platelet rich plasma with follicular unit extraction surgery for the treatment of Androgenetic alopecia demonstrated that PRP is able to minimize the postsurgical follicle loss and potentiate the performance of grafted hairs. Adipose derived stem cells are an effective mesenchymal stem cell population with enormous potential in different fields of regenerative medicine. Adipose stem cells are needed to induce the proliferation of bulge stem cells of hair follicle. Furthermore, they can help in wound healing and vascular neogenesis. Zanzottera et al. 2014 investigated the effect of adipose derived stem cells on wound healing and engraftment of the transplanted hair applied during hair restoration surgery for three patients with androgenetic alopecia. Despite their promising results, further clinical trials including larger number of patients are still needed to confirm their preliminary findings.

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