Stem cell-derived conditioned medium for alopecia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Alopecia is a common and distressing medical condition that has been related to psychiatric disorders. Stem cell-derived conditioned medium (CM), a novel therapy for hair regeneration, has shown effectiveness in several trials.

Methods: This meta-analysis aims to explore the effectiveness of stem cell-derived CM in improving hair growth for patients of alopecia. We prospectively registered this systematic review and meta-analysis in PROSPERO (CRD42023410249). Clinical trials that the enrolled participants suffering from alopecia applied stem cell-derived CM were included. We calculated the mean and standard deviation for the hair density and thickness.

Results: Ten clinical trials were included in our analysis. On the basis of eight clinical trials (n = 221), our pooled results indicate that stem cell-derived CM is effective in increasing hair density (mean difference [MD]: 14.93, confidence interval [95% CI]: 10.20-19.67, p < 0.0001) and thickness (MD: 18.67, 95% CI: 2.75-34.59, p < 0.0001) (μm) in patients with alopecia. Moreover, our findings suggest that longer treatment duration is associated with significantly greater improvement than shorter treatment duration (p = 0.02). Three of the included studies were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and when we specifically analyzed these RCTs; statistical significance could also be observed in terms of hair density (MD: 9.23, 95% CI: 1.79-16.68, p < 0.00001).

Key messages: Stem cell-derived conditioned medium can effectively increase hair density and thickness for alopecia, and there is no difference between each method (topical application, microneedling, or injection).

Keywords: Alopecia; Meta-analysis; Stem cell–derived conditioned medium; Systemic review.