Open AccessEffect of oral minoxidil for alopecia: Systematic review
Author(s) -
Israel Júnior Borges do Nascimento,
Matthew Harries,
Vanessa Barreto Rocha,
Jacqueline Thompson,
Chun Hoong Wong,
Hamed Kord Varkaneh,
Nathália Sernizon Guimarães,
Alair Junior Rocha Arantes,
Milena Soriano Marcolino
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
international journal of trichology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.494
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 0974-9241
pISSN - 0974-7753
DOI - 10.4103/ijt.ijt_19_20
Subject(s) - medicine , medline , randomized controlled trial , adverse effect , systematic review , meta analysis , clinical trial , alternative medicine , anxiety , depression (economics) , web of science , evidence based medicine , quality of evidence , dermatology , intensive care medicine , psychiatry , pathology , political science , law , economics , macroeconomics
Patients with major presentations of alopecia experience physically harmful effects and psychological comorbidities, such as depression and anxiety. Oral minoxidil (OM) has been suggested by dermatologists as a potential remedy; however, its effectiveness remains unclear. This systematic review aims to collate published studies and to analyze the effect of OM among patients diagnosed with any type of alopecia. For this systematic review, Medline/PubMed, Cochrane Central, EMBASE, Web of Sciences, and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Information System were searched for relevant studies from inception to September 21, 2019. Of 1960 studies retrieved in several electronic databases and three additional records identified though reference list from potentially eligible studies, nine studies (one randomized controlled trial and eight nonrandomized controlled trials) met the requirements and were used in our analysis. Although we found positive effects in favor of OM, this should be interpreted cautiously due to very low quality of the evidence of outcomes in the selected studies. Definitive conclusions are not possible without high-quality trials. This review has highlighted the absence of high-quality randomized controlled trials evaluating OM in the treatment of various types of alopecia. Given the mild adverse events of OM, future studies should also analyze doses and duration to maximize efficacy and decrease side effects.