ABSTRACT Background Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a great burden for patients. Treatments are limited to minoxidil, androgen blockers, platelet rich plasma, low level light or transplantation. These treatments are limiting due to side effects, and unpredictability. Recent studies display successful topical delivery and hair growth topicals with non‐invasive technologies such as ultrasound and radiofrequency. Aims Identifying safety and efficacy of plant‐based derived secretory factor (CFa1) hair serum scalp delivery by either ultrasound or radiofrequency microneedling (RFMN). Subjects The study included 20 subjects, ages 23–79 with Fitzpatrick I‐VI skin types experiencing AGA. Demographics included 45% male and 55% female subjects with 45% Caucasian, 35% Hispanic/Latino, and 20% Asian. Methods 10 subjects received radiofrequency microneedling (RF) before scalp product placement and 10 subjects received ultrasound after scalp product placement. The subjects received three in‐office treatments of the secretory factor hair serum spaced 4 weeks apart. Afterwards, all subjects applied the plant derived hair serum two times a day at home. Subjects were then asked to rate their improvement on a scale of 1‐ 5 at 3 and 6 months following treatment. Assessments included patient ratings, blind investigator analysis, quantitative image analysis, and histological analysis from biopsies taken before and after treatment. Results Both treatments resulted in improvement. Ultrasound displayed a more pronounced improvement in overall hair appearance, reduced shedding, hair density, thickness and color. Conclusions Secretory factor hair serum delivered by both RFMN and ultrasound, lead to improvements in hair and scalp health. This study suggests that US delivery may lead to greater improvement.
Mohan et al. (Wed,) studied this question.