Is oral tranexamic acid effective in the treatment of melasma (chloasma, pregnancy mask) ? (For Professionals)

• Tranexamic acid is an antifibrinolytic which inhibits the conversion of plasminogen to plasmin.
• It has an antiallergic and antiinflammatory action.
• It might be effective in the treatment of melasma (chloasma, pregnancy mask):

1. However tranexamic acid is in its inital stages and over the long run, the good results in the few reports* might not be confirmed.
2. It has serious side effects and cannot be administered for example in those suffering from renal insufficiency.

*When searching on PUBMED (September 2012) for scientific papers on tranexamic acid and melasma, only 8 publications are available; Many of which are anecdotical and 2 of them being studies of around 25 and 70 patients.

Note that topical tranexamic acid 5% has been shown to be ineffective. (Treatment of melasma with oral administration of tranexamic acid. Wu S, Shi H, Wu H, Yan S, Guo J, Sun Y, Pan L. Aesthetic Plast Surg. 2012 Aug;36(4):964-70. Epub 2012 May 3)

Source of Information: 2012 (09) – Sachdev M. .21st Annual Congress of the EADV (European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology) – Prague (Praha), Czech Republic (česká republika)