title: A bibliometric study of scientific literature in Scopus on botanicals for treatment of androgenetic alopecia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In androgenetic alopecia, a number of botanicals are available that can effectively slow or reduce hair loss and inflammation or stimulate partial hair regrowth. The aim of this study was to provide a descriptive overview of the impact and production of literature on botanicals used for androgenetic alopecia and to perform a citation analysis of the related research articles.
  
  
  METHODS
  We searched for "alopecia" OR "androgenetic alopecia" OR "hair loss" AND "Camelia sinensis" OR (and other 15 botanicals) in ARTICLE (Title/Abstract/Keyword) in Scopus database.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 29 references, that is, research articles, were retrieved by SCOPUS search, and 93.1% had been published since 2000. The majority (48.3%) describe applications of hair grow stimulants, followed by inhibitors of 5-alpha-reductase applications (27.6%), and studies concerning inhibitors of inflammation (24.1%). The citation analysis revealed a growing interest for this topic and the papers on hair grow stimulants are most cited. Citation trend of inhibition of 5-alpha-reductase articles is growing in the last years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study has highlighted three important aspects: (1) growing interest for this topic; (2) evidences mainly in hair grow stimulants and recently in the inhibition of 5-alpha-reductase, as demonstrated by article and citation counts across years; (3) in addition, all major studies have been focused on green tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate, Serenoa repens, Citrullus colocynthis and Cuscuta reflexa.
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, Section of Human Nutrition, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Azienda di Servizi alla Persona, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rondanelli
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, Section of Human Nutrition, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Azienda di Servizi alla Persona, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2720-1473
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perna
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, Section of Human Nutrition, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Azienda di Servizi alla Persona, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peroni
authors.affiliation: Endocrinology and Nutrition Unit, Section of Human Nutrition, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, Azienda di Servizi alla Persona, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.|Medical and Genomic Statistics Unit, Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.|Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guido
mesh_terms: D000505:Alopecia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D015706:Bibliometrics; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006197:Hair / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008517:Phytotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts
keywords: alopecia; bibliometric analysis; botanicals; citations analysis; hair loss; phytotherapy