The small, randomized, placebo-controlled trial found the treatment both safe and effective, with larger trials hoped to validate the results in more diverse populations.

The most common form of age-related baldness is known as androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Around half of men and women over the age of 50 will deal with some form of this hair loss, from a receding hairline to more general hair thinning.

The new trial focused on a type of stem cell abundantly found in adult fat tissue, called adipose tissue?derived stem cells (ADSCs), which have been found to secrete a number of growth hormones vital to hair development. Smaller studies have demonstrated ADSCs can regrow hair in male and female subjects but this is the first robust human clinical trial to test a novel topical treatment against a placebo.

"Recent studies have shown that ADSCs promote hair growth in both men and women with alopecia," explains Sang Yeoup Lee, from Pusan National University in South Korea. "However, no randomized, placebo-controlled trial in humans has explored the effects and safety of adipose-derived stem cell constituent extract (ADSC-CE) in AGA. We aimed to assess the efficacy and tolerability of ADSC-CE in middle-aged patients with AGA in our study, hypothesizing that it is an effective and safe treatment agent."