Latanoprost in treatment of alopecia areata and androgenic alopecia: A comprehensive review

Background: Alopecia is a common condition among males and females in all age groups. There are many treatment options with their own benefits and side effects. In some cases, the current treatments lack sufficient efficacy. Therefore, there is a need to probe for alternative treatments. Recently, latanoprost has been suggested as an effective therapeutic option for managing scalp baldness. Objectives : To review latanoprost effects in different types of scalp alopecia. Data sources: Scopus and Pubmed data-base Eligibility criteria and Methods: In this review, we included the studies evaluating effects of latanoprost in different types of scalp alopecia including androgenic alopecia and alopecia areata in the English literature. Results: There were promising results for latanoprost application in animal models of androgenic alopecia. Effects of latanoprost on human scalp alopecia were satisfying in mostof the studies. In alopecia areata of the eyelash, some studies observed remarkable improvement, while others didn't notice significant changes. One study suggested that latanoprost could be used as an effective adjuvant therapy with corticosteroids in alopecia areata of the scalp. Conclusion : It seems that latanoprost can be an efficient agent in the treatment of alopecia areata of scalp.