Growth Factor Cocktail Including Fibroblast Growth Factor 9 (Cellcurin) in the Treatment of Androgenetic Alopecia in Men and Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Objectives: Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common cause of hair loss in men and women, affecting about 30% of men and 15% of women at 30 years and 80% and 48% at 70 years, respectively. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of growth factor cocktail therapy including fibroblast growth factor 9 (FGF9) (Cellcurin) in men and women with AGA. Materials and Methods: This is a single-center randomized controlled trial, conducted with 10 men and 10 women with AGA. Eight men participated in the therapeutic group and two men in the control group. Eight women participated in the therapeutic group and two women in the control group. All were classified by sex, age, duration, and degrees of progression of AGA. The study obtained approval from the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the Federal University of Uberlandia at approval number: 36918620.8.0000.5152. Six microneedling sessions were performed with an electromedical pen with an interval of 15 days between sessions. In the therapeutic group, sterile injectable Cellcurin was used and, in the control group, injectable sterile minoxidil 5 mg/ml 2 ml, both through the drug delivery system. Trichoscopic photos were taken before and after 12 weeks in the frontal and vertex regions. Descriptive statistics were performed using the t-test with the IBM SPSS-25 software. Results: Men and women showed an expressive and significant increase in the amount of hair per cm2 after Cellcurin therapy, as well as an increase in the amount of terminal hair, vellus hair, sum of the terminal hair diameters, and mean of the terminal hair diameters in both regions, frontal and vertex. Conclusions: In this study, we demonstrated that the use of Cellcurin in the treatment of AGA in men and women is associated with an increase in the amount of hair per cm2, in the amount of terminal hair per cm2, in the amount of vellus hair per cm2, in the number obtained by the sum of the terminal hair diameters per cm2, as well as an increase in the mean diameter of the terminal hairs.