Comparing the Efficacy of Topical Metformin and Placebo in the Treatment of Melasma: A Randomized, Double-blind, Clinical Trial
Mohammad Ali Mapar, Ali Asghar Hemmati, Ghazal Namdari
Journal of Pharmaceutical Research International · pp. 1–8 · Published 22 Oct 2019
10.9734/jpri/2019/v30i430276Abstract
Introduction: Generally affecting women, melasma is the acquired disorder of hyperpigmentation, and researches are still ongoing to find an effective, fast, and low-side-effect drug treating this disease. The present study is aimed at comparing the efficacy of topical metformin and placebo in the treatment of melasma. Methods: Sixty patients with melasma were treated in placebo and topical metformin recipient groups in a double-blind clinical trial. In addition to the demographic and laboratory findings of patients before and after the intervention, the MASI Score of patients in weeks 0, 4, 8, and 12 of the study and then one month after the study were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software. Results: The mean age of the studied patients was 35.25 ± 7.11 years. No significant difference was observed between the phenotypes (P= .49) and the type of melasma (P= .63) in the two groups. The mean MASI score of patients at the time of being included in the study in the placebo group was 10.47 ± 3.08; and in the metformin group, it was 11.93 ± 4.64 (P = .16). Compared to the beginning of the study, the MASI scores were significantly decreased in both groups of placebo (P = .00) and metformin (P = .00) one month after the end of the study; nevertheless, no statistically significant difference was observed between the MASI Scores of two groups in any of the study periods (P > .05). Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that metformin cream significantly declines the patients’ MASI score and does not have any effect on patients’ laboratory markers. Of course, no significant difference was observed between the MASI scores of the patients receiving metformin and the placebo group; however, the MASI score decrease trend continued until the 12th week; while in the placebo group, no significant decrease was seen after eight weeks.
Cited by 9
Noelle Desir, Iain Noel Encarnacion, Abdulaziz Hamid · JAAD Reviews · 2025
Omnia Abdulmanam Alali, Lama Mohammed Albelowi, Ghadah Saad Algoraini · Journal of Advanced Trends in Medical Research · 2025
Kimia Afshar, Sara Adibfard, Mohammad Hossein Nikbakht · Health Science Reports · 2024
Ellia Nilam, Julia Gunadi, Meilinah Hidayat · World Academy of Sciences Journal · 2025
Eman Said AboAlsoud, Ramadan Mohamed Eldahshan, Hassan AbouKhodair Mohammed · Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology · 2022
Sahar A. Ismail, Ghada A. Mohamed, Karima N. Mohamedeen · Dermatologic Surgery · 2024
Mohamed H M EL-Komy, Salma Walaa Elnowaihy, Rehab Nabil Shamma · Clinical and Experimental Dermatology · 2024
Mohamed H. M. EL‐Komy, Nesma Moustafa Kamel Abdo, Rehab Nabil Shamma · Experimental Dermatology · 2023
Pajaree Mongkhon, Chidchanok Ruengorn, Ratanaporn Awiphan · Frontiers in Pharmacology · 2023
Related research
- Primary Mucinous Carcinoma of the Skin: Report of a Rare Case and Review of the Literature — shares topic coverage
- Updates in Diagnosis and Management of Melasma : A Simple Review Article — shares topic coverage
- Comparing Subcuticular Sutures versus Percutaneous Staples for Skin Closure after Caesarean Delivery: A Randomized Controlled Study — shares topic coverage
- Spectrophotometric Determination of Sun Protection Factor and Antioxidant Potential of an Herbal Mixture — shares topic coverage
- Potential Effect of Vitamin C and Curcumin on Oxidative Stress and Skin Lesion Induced by Dermal Intoxication with Cypermethrin — shares topic coverage
Article metrics
Real usage data collected on this platform.
8
Page views
0
PDF downloads
0
Outbound clicks
9
Citations
Views over time
Views by country
Approximate, from request IP at view time — not citizenship or institution. Countries with fewer than 5 views are grouped as "Other".
Traffic sources
Referring site, by host.
Views and downloads exclude known bots/crawlers. Citations combines this platform's own DOI-resolved index with each external source's own reported total — see Cited by above for individually listed citing works. Last refreshed 0 seconds ago.