Transepidermal Delivery of Triamcinolone Acetonide or Platelet Rich Plasma Using Either Fractional Carbon Dioxide Laser or Microneedling in Treatment of Alopecia Areata

The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of fractional carbon dioxide laser versus microneedling in the transepidermal delivery of triamcinolone acetonide and platelet rich plasma in treatment of alopecia areata.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Alopecia Areata
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Fractional Carbon Dioxide Laser; Other: Triamcinolone Acetonide; Other: Microneedling using dermapen; Other: Platelet-rich plasma

Detailed Description

Alopecia areata (AA) is one of the most common forms of non-scarring alopecia involving the scalp and/or body. Estimated incidence of alopecia areata is 20.9 per 100,000 person-years with a cumulative lifetime incidence of 2.1%.

The exact pathophysiology of alopecia areata remains unknown. The most widely accepted hypothesis is that alopecia areata is a T cell-mediated autoimmune condition that is most likely to occur in genetically predisposed individuals.

Although, alopecia areata is a benign condition and most patients are asymptomatic, it can cause emotional and psychosocial distress in affected individuals.

First-line therapies include intralesional corticosteroids, topical corticosteroids, minoxidil, anthralin, topical immunotherapy, prostaglandin analogues, topical retinoids bexarotene, and capsaicin. Second- and third-line treatments include topical and systemic immunomodulatory therapies such as oral and topical psoralen plus UVA radiation and photodynamic therapy.No treatment is either curative or preventive. Since no single treatment option is certain to treat alopecia areata, the need for new therapies is mounting.

Intralesional corticosteroids, most commonly triamcinolone acetonide are considered a first-line treatment method for limited disease and can be used as adjunctive therapy in extensive disease. Because triamcinolone is only emulsified temporally to the water, usually it is delivered by the painful intralesional injection.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has emerged as a new treatment modality in dermatology, and preliminary evidence has suggested that it might have a beneficial role in hair growth.

Drugs applied topically have the advantage of fewer side effects, and bypassing the first-pass effect. However, transepidermal dermal drug delivery has limitations, including decreased penetration of larger and water-soluble molecules.

Several strategies have been used to improve many drug penetrations into the skin: microneedling, ultrasound, and more recently transepidermal drug delivery (TED). TED is a technique based on applying a medication following an ablative method (CO2 laser, erbium lasers or ablative radiofrequency), which create vertical channels to assist the delivery of topically applied drugs into the skin. The use of nonablative lasers as well as microneedling technique has been reported with the same purpose.

Fractional laser-assisted drug delivery of corticosteroids for resistant alopecia areata is a new concept in dermatological therapy.

Microneedle devices, such as Dermaroller and Dermapen, are minimally invasive devices that bypass the stratum corneum barrier, thus accessing the skin microcirculation and achieving systemic delivery by the transepidermal route.

Trichoscopy, hair and scalp dermoscopy, is a fast, non-invasive method useful in the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of scalp and hair diseases.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 60
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Alexandria, Egypt
    • Faculty of medicine, Alexandria University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Patients with alopecia areata of either gender, diagnosed both clinically and by trichoscopy
2. Patients not responding to treatment (topical and/or systemic), used properly and regularly, for at least 3 months duration

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Alopecia areata with evidence of spontaneous hair regrowth
2. Patients having active scalp inflammation or other scalp or hair diseases
3. Pregnant and lactating women
4. Patients with any bleeding disorder or receiving anti-coagulant therapy
5. Immunocompromised patients

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Fractional Carbon dioxide laser and triamcinolone acetonide; Group I:Fractional Carbon dioxide laser (CO2 Laser) and triamcinolone acetonide (TrA; 10 mg/ ml) (14, 15) The ablative fractional CO2 laser is delivered to the patients' scalp. The fractional ablative method is applied immediately before the topcial medication. Laser treatment will be given to the affected area, and immediately after the treatment, triamcinolone solution (10 mg/ml) will be dropped on the treated area and spread evenly. Each patient will receive four treatments, with an interval of three weeks between the treatment sessions, for a total of 12 weeks.This will be followed by a follow up period of another 4 weeks. The patients will be given no topical treatments for the alopecia areata in between the sessions. Topical post-procedure care in the form of topical antibiotics, emollient or sunscreen may be used. Each patch will be digitally macrophotographed, and evaluated clinically and by dermoscopy at baseline and at the end of the study, for signs of hair regrowth	Other: Fractional Carbon Dioxide Laser; The ablative fractional CO2 laser is delivered to the patients' scalp. The fractional ablative method is applied immediately before the topcial medication. Laser treatment will be given to the affected area, and immediately after the treatment, the treatment solution will be dropped on the treated area and spread evenly; Other: Triamcinolone Acetonide; triamcinolone solution (10 mg/ml) will be dropped on the treated area and spread evenly
Experimental: Microneedling with Dermapen and triamcinolone acetonide; Microneedling is performed using Dermapen. This creates pin point bleeding or mild erythema which will be considered as the end point. Triamcinolone acetonide in concentration of 10 mg/ml (0.1 ml containing 1 mg of triamcinolone) will be applied on each lesion twice, before and after performing microneedling. Each patient will receive four treatments, with an interval of three weeks between the treatment sessions, for a total of 12 weeks.This will be followed by a follow up period of another 4 weeks. The patients will be given no topical treatments for the alopecia areata in between the sessions. Topical post-procedure care in the form of topical antibiotics, emollient or sunscreen may be used. Each patch will be digitally macrophotographed, and evaluated clinically and by dermoscopy at baseline and at the end of the study, for signs of hair regrowth	Other: Triamcinolone Acetonide; triamcinolone solution (10 mg/ml) will be dropped on the treated area and spread evenly; Other: Microneedling using dermapen; Microneedling is performed using Dermapen. This creates pin point bleeding or mild erythema which will be considered as the end point. The treatment solution will be applied on each lesion twice, before and after performing microneedling.
Experimental: Fractional Carbon dioxide laser and Platelet-rich plasma; The same laser parameters as group I will be used, followed by application of freshly prepared PRP. The applied PRP will be spread over the whole affected area. Each patient will receive four treatments, with an interval of three weeks between the treatment sessions, for a total of 12 weeks.This will be followed by a follow up period of another 4 weeks. The patients will be given no topical treatments for the alopecia areata in between the sessions. Topical post-procedure care in the form of topical antibiotics, emollient or sunscreen may be used. Each patch will be digitally macrophotographed, and evaluated clinically and by dermoscopy at baseline and at the end of the study, for signs of hair regrowth	Other: Fractional Carbon Dioxide Laser; The ablative fractional CO2 laser is delivered to the patients' scalp. The fractional ablative method is applied immediately before the topcial medication. Laser treatment will be given to the affected area, and immediately after the treatment, the treatment solution will be dropped on the treated area and spread evenly; Other: Platelet-rich plasma; The applied PRP will be spread over the whole affected area
Experimental: Microneedling with Dermapen and Platelet-rich plasma; Microneedling using dermapen is performed as Group II. Microneedling is preceeded and followed by intermittent application of freshly prepared PRP. The applied PRP will be spread over the whole affected area and again rolled till pinpoint bleeding points are noticed. Each patient will receive four treatments, with an interval of three weeks between the treatment sessions, for a total of 12 weeks.This will be followed by a follow up period of another 4 weeks. The patients will be given no topical treatments for the alopecia areata in between the sessions. Topical post-procedure care in the form of topical antibiotics, emollient or sunscreen may be used. Each patch will be digitally macrophotographed, and evaluated clinically and by dermoscopy at baseline and at the end of the study, for signs of hair regrowth	Other: Microneedling using dermapen; Microneedling is performed using Dermapen. This creates pin point bleeding or mild erythema which will be considered as the end point. The treatment solution will be applied on each lesion twice, before and after performing microneedling.; Other: Platelet-rich plasma; The applied PRP will be spread over the whole affected area

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Clinical evaluation of hair regrowth	Each patch will be digitally macrophotographed, and evaluated clinically at baseline and at the end of the treatment sessions, for signs of hair regrowth	Three months
Dermoscopic evaluation of hair regrowth	Each patch will be digitally macrophotographed, and evaluated by dermoscopy at baseline and at the end of the treatment sessions, for signs of hair regrowth	Three months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Alexandria University
• Investigators: Study Director: Khaled El Mulla, MBBCh, MS, Ph.D, Professor of Dermatology,Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alexandria; Study Director: Eman Elmorsy, MBBCh, MS, Ph.D, Professor of Dermatology,Venereology and Andrology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alexandria

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 30, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 27, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): November 27, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 26, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 30, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): November 1, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 8, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 6, 2020
• Last Verified: December 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Microneedling; Alopecia Areata; Platelet-Rich Plasma; Triamcinolone acetonide; Transepidermal drug delivery; Fractional Carbon Dioxide Laser
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Skin Diseases; Pathological Conditions, Anatomical; Hypotrichosis; Hair Diseases; Alopecia; Alopecia Areata; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Enzyme Inhibitors; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Immunosuppressive Agents; Immunologic Factors; Glucocorticoids; Hormones; Hormones, Hormone Substitutes, and Hormone Antagonists; Triamcinolone; Triamcinolone Acetonide; Triamcinolone hexacetonide; Triamcinolone diacetate
• Other Study ID Numbers: AlexandriaU Derma

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No