A 13-year-old boy with extensive alopecia areata that had progressed to 80% hair loss on his scalp, eyebrows, and eyelashes was treated with platelet rich plasma therapy. Prior standard treatments had not produced significant improvement. The platelet rich plasma therapy involved collecting the patient's blood, concentrating the platelets, and injecting the activated platelet-rich plasma into the affected areas over six treatments spaced two months apart. After two months of treatment, a significant response was observed with halted hair loss and regrowth of hair on the scalp and eyebrows with increased thickness and density. The report concludes that platelet rich plasma represents a promising and safe option for alopecia areata management due to its antiapoptotic

1. Alopecia Areata treated with Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP):
A case report.
Amalia Tsiatoura, Dimitra Zafeiratou, Sevasti Afantenou, Eleftheria Kritsotaki, Georgia Karampa
Cosmetic Derma Medicine Medical Group, Dermatology Department, Athens, Greece
Background: Alopecia Areata (AA) is an autoimmune disease leading to non scarring hair
loss. Α T cell mediated reaction appears to be the main cause, although antibodies against
anagen phase hair follicles have been described. Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy is an
innovative treatment gaining interest in the field of Dermatology. PRP activates Bcl-2 protein
and Akt signaling, inducing follicular stem cell activation and prolongation of the anagen phase
of the hair cycle. Its antiapoptotic effect is applied for the treatment of various types of
alopecia such as AA.
Objective: To present the results of the use of PRP therapy in a case of extensive AA,
suggesting the benefits of the treatment.
Methods: A 13-year old boy presented with massive hair loss during the past 6 years that
first appeared as loss of hair at a certain area of the scalp and rapidly progressed to involve
80% of the scalp as well as the patient’s eyebrows and eyelashes within 3 months. The
patient did not have any comorbidities and did not take medication for any reason. He had
undergone almost all standard forms of treatment without any success.
When he first came to the clinic, he was using topical therapy with minoxidil 5% and
mometasone lotion twice daily but did not notice any significant improvement. As there was no
respond to the other treatment options, he was introduced to PRP therapy.
The therapeutic plan was to complete 6 PRP treatments with 2-months intervals. The
procedure involved collection of 10mL of blood from the patient which was then double
centrifuged. After that the Platelet Rich Plasma was pipetted and activated by 0,05mL of 10%
calcium chloride to each 1mL of PRP. The activated plasma with the concentrated platelets
was finally injected into the patient’s scalp and eyebrows.
Results: After two months of follow up a significant response was recorded. There was no
evidence of hair loss. Hair on the scalp and eyebrows started to regrow and thickness and
density of hair were increased.
Conclusions: The use of PRP represents a very promising and safe option for the
management of AA. A clinical improvement in the mean number of hairs, mean hair thickness
and hair dystrophy was observed, due to its antiapoptotic and neovascularization effects.
Further research is needed in order to establish PRP as an alternative treatment for AA.