146 citations
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July 2003 in “Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology” In this study, clobetasol propionate 0.05% ointment was found to induce hair regrowth in 28.5% of patients with severe alopecia areata under occlusive conditions, though long-term benefit was limited to 17.8%.
114 citations
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October 2006 in “Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology” In this study, clobetasol propionate foam demonstrated effectiveness and good patient compliance as a safe topical treatment for moderate to severe alopecia areata, with significant hair regrowth compared to placebo.
69 citations
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December 2015 in “Journal of Controlled Release” This study found that nanocapsules formulated as a dispersion and applied with massage may enhance follicular uptake of clobetasol propionate while minimizing its skin penetration, offering a potential improvement over conventional treatments for scalp diseases.
52 citations
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January 2020 in “Scientific Reports” This study found that nanostructured lipid carriers with clobetasol propionate significantly enhance follicular drug delivery compared to commercial cream, and manual massage further doubles follicular retention.
49 citations
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November 2013 in “JAMA dermatology” This study found that topical clobetasol propionate cream was more effective than hydrocortisone cream in reducing hair loss surface area in children with patchy alopecia areata over 24 weeks, with no serious adverse effects.
26 citations
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March 2015 in “American journal of clinical dermatology” This study found that systemic mycophenolate mofetil and topical clobetasol were equally effective at reducing lichen planopilaris activity over six months, but satisfaction differed between the treatments.
13 citations
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July 2011 in “Journal of Dermatological Treatment” This study found that topical pimecrolimus is as effective as clobetasol propionate for treating alopecia areata, with better tolerability in terms of side effects.
12 citations
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August 2016 in “Biomedical Chromatography” This study developed and validated an HPLC-UV method for accurately quantifying clobetasol propionate in skin and hair follicles, demonstrating its application in in vitro permeation experiments.
11 citations
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April 2020 in “Journal of Dermatological Treatment” This study found that combining oral isotretinoin with topical treatments was more effective than topical treatments alone for improving frontal fibrosing alopecia symptoms, despite some side effects.
10 citations
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April 2020 in “Dermatology and therapy” In this study of 35 patients with scalp alopecia areata, calcipotriol ointment led to faster and greater hair regrowth than clobetasol, though differences were not statistically significant.
2 citations
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November 2016 in “Journal of Pakistan Association of Dermatologists” In this study, tacrolimus was as effective as clobetasol propionate in treating alopecia areata, suggesting it can serve as an alternative therapy option.
1 citations
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December 2022 in “Journal of cosmetic dermatology” This study found that combining a potent steroid with a vitamin D analogue may offer more convenient treatment for localized alopecia areata than using a superpotent steroid alone, with comparable efficacy but fewer side effects.
1 citations
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January 2021 in “Journal of clinical and diagnostic research” In this study, adding topical calcipotriol 0.005% to topical clobetasol 0.05% significantly improved treatment efficacy for Alopecia Areata compared to using clobetasol alone, as evidenced by a greater reduction in SALT scores over 24 weeks.
January 2026 in “PubMed Central” This study found that clobetasol propionate 0.05% was more effective than topical metformin 30% in treating localized alopecia areata, even though both treatments were generally well-tolerated and showed similar effects overall.
August 2025 in “Skin Appendage Disorders” This study reported that the combination of tacrolimus, clobetasol, and minoxidil improved hair measurements and stabilized inflammation in primary cicatricial alopecia patients, with most tolerating the treatment well.
July 2025 in “Pakistan Journal of Intensive Care Medicine” In this randomized controlled trial, researchers observed that topical clobetasol propionate 0.05% was significantly more effective than topical tacrolimus 0.1% for treating alopecia areata, with a higher treatment success rate of 74.2% versus 45.2%, suggesting clobetasol as a preferred first-line topical therapy.
This study evaluated the stability of multiple active ingredients in TrichoSol™ for use in alopecia treatments, finding varying stability durations at room temperature—up to 180 days for some ingredients—supporting its use as a compounding vehicle in personalized therapies.
December 2024 in “Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi Dergisi” This study found that switching patients with alopecia areata unresponsive to topical clobetasol 17 propionate 0.05% to anthralin treatment led to improved treatment success.
This abstract introduces TrichoFoam™, a new foaming vehicle for compounding pharmacies, designed to be a gentle, non-irritating option for alopecia treatment, acknowledging that current topical treatments are limited and oral products may cause adverse effects.
November 2023 in “Pakistan Journal of Health Sciences” This study found that clobetasol propionate 0.05% was significantly more effective in stimulating hair re-growth in alopecia areata patients compared to topical tacrolimus 0.1%, with an excellent response observed in 74.3% of the clobetasol group versus 40% in the tacrolimus group.
November 2023 in “Journal of medical and health studies” In this study, combining low-level laser therapy with microneedling showed statistically significant improvement in hair growth for three adult patients with androgenetic alopecia over three months, suggesting it may be a promising management approach.
April 2023 in “Iraqi postgraduate medical journal” This study found that combining microneedling with clobetasol propionate 0.05% cream significantly improved complete hair regrowth in alopecia areata patches compared to using the cream alone, with nearly double the rate of full hair regrowth observed in the combination treatment group.
January 2023 in “Indian Dermatology Online Journal” This study found that there was no significant difference in hair regrowth between clobetasol and bimatoprost for scalp alopecia areata over 12 weeks, but bimatoprost had fewer side effects and prompted earlier, more pigmented hair regrowth.
June 2022 in “Pakistan Journal of Medical and Health Sciences” This randomized controlled trial found that topical clobetasol propionate 0.05% ointment is significantly more effective than topical tacrolimus 0.1% ointment in promoting hair regrowth in patients with alopecia areata, with effective results observed in 79.31% of clobetasol users compared to 44.82% of tacrolimus users.
February 2017 in “Medicina cutánea ibero-latino-americana” This case report documents an 8-year-old boy with alopecia areata presenting as symmetric alopecic patches with a triangular and targetoid pattern on the scalp, successfully treated with clobetasol propionate foam.
January 2015 in “SciDok (Saarland University and State Library)” This study confirmed the porcine ear skin model's effectiveness for studying nanoparticle-based drug delivery in human hair follicles, noting particle-dependent uptake and enhancement by massage.
In this study, 1% pimekrolimus cream was found to be more effective than 0.05% clobetasol propionate for treating active plaques in patients with alopecia areata.
February 2023 in “Reactions Weekly” 1 citations
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January 2018 in “Journal of Cosmetics Dermatological Sciences and Applications” This study observed that a targetoid polycyclic concentric hair regrowth pattern appeared in some male patients with alopecia areata following treatment, indicating a positive sign of recovery despite unclear etiopathogenesis.
1 citations
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August 2005 in “British Journal of Dermatology” This case report describes a 7-year-old girl who developed widespread erythroderma and systemic symptoms after ingesting clobetasone butyrate cream, despite previous psoriasis treatment.