{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,24]],"date-time":"2026-10-24T00:58:00Z","timestamp":1792803480265,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"Oxford University Press (OUP)","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,25]],"date-time":"2025-04-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1745539200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":24,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n               <jats:p>Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a hair disorder seen in both sexes. Its aetiology is multifactorial. Treating AGA has always been a challenge for dermatologists. Only a few drugs such as topical minoxidil and finasteride are U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved for treating AGA. Thus, looking for new and more effective treatment options for AGA is imperative. This review was conducted to compare the efficacy of oral with topical minoxidil in treating AGA. Only clinical trials that compared oral with topical minoxidil in treating AGA were included in this review. PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus and ClinicalTrials.gov were searched. A total of 2063 studies were retrieved from the databases. Four studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. Outcomes such as hair density, terminal hair density, hair count, global photographic assessment and negative hair pull were studied in this review. The results showed that there was no significant difference between oral and topical minoxidil in terms of improving the hair density of patients with AGA (overall mean difference 0.95, 95% confidence interval \u221224.98 to 26.87). Two studies showed that the mean difference in terminal hair density was greater in patients treated with oral minoxidil, but there was no significant difference between the two treatments in terms of improving terminal hair density. The efficacy of oral minoxidil is comparable to that of topical minoxidil in terms of improving hair density and terminal hair density in patients with AGA. Oral minoxidil can be used as an adjunct or as a second-line treatment option for AGA.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1093\/skinhd\/vzaf009","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,25]],"date-time":"2025-04-25T15:34:47Z","timestamp":1745595287000},"page":"95-101","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Can oral minoxidil be the game changer in androgenetic alopecia? A comprehensive review and meta-analysis comparing topical and oral minoxidil for treating androgenetic alopecia"],"prefix":"10.1093","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2091-2088","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Faizan","family":"Fazal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Holy Family Hospital , Rawalpindi ,","place":["Pakistan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7799-3085","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bilal Haider","family":"Malik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board , Wrexham Maelor Hospital, Wrexham ,","place":["UK"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haris","family":"Mumtaz Malik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Holy Family Hospital , Rawalpindi ,","place":["Pakistan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Beenish","family":"Sabir","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Holy Family Hospital , Rawalpindi ,","place":["Pakistan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haris","family":"Mustafa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Holy Family Hospital , Rawalpindi ,","place":["Pakistan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mushood","family":"Ahmed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Holy Family Hospital , Rawalpindi ,","place":["Pakistan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Areesha","family":"Abid","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Holy Family Hospital , Rawalpindi ,","place":["Pakistan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maham","family":"Leeza Adil","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geriatrics, Albert Edward Infirmary Hospital , Wigan ,","place":["UK"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Umar","family":"Shafi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Holy Family Hospital , Rawalpindi ,","place":["Pakistan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Muhammad","family":"Saad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Holy Family Hospital , Rawalpindi ,","place":["Pakistan"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"150","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jdin.2023.07.005","article-title":"Androgenetic alopecia: an update","volume":"13","author":"Ntshingila","year":"2023","journal-title":"JAAD Int"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2542","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms25052542","article-title":"The biology and genomics of human hair follicles: a focus on androgenetic alopecia","volume":"25","author":"Cuevas-Diaz Duran","year":"2024","journal-title":"Int J Mol Sci"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2233","DOI":"10.1007\/s13555-022-00799-7","article-title":"Comorbidities in androgenetic alopecia: a comprehensive review","volume":"12","author":"Chen","year":"2022","journal-title":"Dermatol Ther (Heidelb)"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"981","DOI":"10.1016\/S0531-5565(02)00093-1","article-title":"Molecular mechanisms of androgenetic alopecia","volume":"37","author":"Tr\u00fceb","year":"2002","journal-title":"Exp Gerontol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.1111\/jocd.14983","article-title":"The psychological consequences of androgenetic alopecia: a systematic review","volume":"22","author":"Aukerman","year":"2023","journal-title":"J Cosmet Dermatol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101","DOI":"10.2147\/CCID.S10182","article-title":"Alopecia: evaluation and treatment","volume":"4","author":"Gordon","year":"2011","journal-title":"Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3759","DOI":"10.1111\/jocd.14537","article-title":"Treatment options for androgenetic alopecia: efficacy, side effects, compliance, financial considerations, and ethics","volume":"20","author":"Nestor","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Cosmet Dermatol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaad.2017.02.054","article-title":"The effectiveness of treatments for androgenetic alopecia: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"77","author":"Adil","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Am Acad Dermatol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"701","DOI":"10.1007\/s40265-023-01880-x","article-title":"Androgenetic alopecia: therapy update","volume":"83","author":"Devjani","year":"2023","journal-title":"Drugs"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"186","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2133.2004.05785.x","article-title":"Minoxidil: mechanisms of action on hair growth","volume":"150","author":"Messenger","year":"2004","journal-title":"Br J Dermatol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"377","DOI":"10.1067\/mjd.2002.124088","article-title":"A randomized clinical trial of 5% topical minoxidil versus 2% topical minoxidil and placebo in the treatment of androgenetic alopecia in men","volume":"47","author":"Olsen","year":"2002","journal-title":"J Am Acad Dermatol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"252","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaad.2019.08.060","article-title":"Minoxidil 1 mg oral versus minoxidil 5% topical solution for the treatment of female-pattern hair loss: a randomized clinical trial","volume":"82","author":"Ramos","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Am Acad Dermatol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"949","DOI":"10.1111\/jocd.16086","article-title":"Clinical efficacy and safety of low-dose oral minoxidil versus topical solution in the improvement of androgenetic alopecia: a randomized controlled trial","volume":"23","author":"Asilian","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Cosmet Dermatol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e15131","DOI":"10.1111\/dth.15131","article-title":"A randomized clinical trial on therapeutic effects of 0.25 mg oral minoxidil tablets on treatment of female pattern hair loss","volume":"34","author":"Vahabi-Amlashi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Dermatol Ther"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"600","DOI":"10.1001\/jamadermatol.2024.0284","article-title":"Oral minoxidil vs topical minoxidil for male androgenetic alopecia: a randomized clinical trial","volume":"160","author":"Penha","year":"2024","journal-title":"JAMA Dermatol"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1769","DOI":"10.2106\/JBJS.16.01374","article-title":"A call for standardization in platelet-rich plasma preparation protocols and composition reporting: a systematic review of the clinical orthopaedic literature","volume":"99","author":"Chahla","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Bone Joint Surg Am"},{"key":"2025051214221416400_vzaf009-B17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Fazal F . Can oral minoxidil be the game changer in androgenetic alopecia? A comprehensive review and meta-analysis comparing topical and oral minoxidil for treating androgenetic alopecia. Available at: 10.5281\/zenodo.13893013 (last accessed 31 March 2025).","DOI":"10.1093\/skinhd\/vzaf009"}],"container-title":["Skin Health and Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/skinhd\/article-pdf\/5\/2\/95\/63011393\/vzaf009.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/skinhd\/article-pdf\/5\/2\/95\/63011393\/vzaf009.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,12]],"date-time":"2025-05-12T18:22:23Z","timestamp":1747074143000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/skinhd\/article\/5\/2\/95\/8120059"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,4]]},"references-count":17,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,12]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/skinhd\/vzaf009","relation":{},"ISSN":["2690-442X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2690-442X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2025,4]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,4]]}}}