Efficacy and Safety of Compound Glycyrrhizin Combined with Topical Minoxidil for Alopecia Areata: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the efficacy and safety of combining compound glycyrrhizin with topical minoxidil for alopecia areata, involving 1,189 patients across 11 randomized controlled trials. The combination therapy significantly improved clinical efficacy over minoxidil alone, reducing the SALT score and levels of serum TNF-α, IL-12, and IFN-γ, while increasing serum TGF-β1 levels, without significant differences in adverse events. Despite these promising results, the study highlights the need for more high-quality, large-scale trials due to the suboptimal quality of the included studies.