Comparative Study Between Topical Methotrexate 1% Gel and Minoxidil 5% Gel in the Treatment of Localized Alopecia Areata
July 2022
in “
Dermatologic Therapy
”
TLDR Minoxidil showed better improvement than methotrexate in treating localized alopecia areata.
The study compared the efficacy of topical methotrexate (MTX) 1% gel and minoxidil 5% gel in treating localized alopecia areata (AA) in 50 patients divided into two groups. Results showed that minoxidil had a statistically significant higher frequency of broken hair and black dots after 6 weeks compared to MTX. After 12 weeks, minoxidil showed a lower frequency of vellus hair than MTX. Clinically, minoxidil demonstrated significantly more excellent improvement than MTX after 6 weeks (16% vs. 0%), and both treatments showed high efficacy after 12 weeks (52% for minoxidil and 36% for MTX). There were no significant differences in side effects between the two treatments. Both treatments were effective, with no significant differences in overall efficacy.