The Relationship Between Herbal Anticoagulants and Melasma

Context: Melasma is a common pigmentary disorder with the incidence of 1.5% - 33.3% worldwide. Targeting the vascular component in melasma lesions may decrease the melanocytic stimulation. Herbal anticoagulants can serve as effective candidates for melasma treatment. Evidence Acquisition: The evidence was gathered in this study by evaluating vascularization as an etiology of melasma and considering the role of herbal anticoagulants in natural vascular treatment. Databases such as PubMed and Scopus were screened and the following keywords were searched: melasma, vascularization, pigmentation, and herbal anticoagulant. These subjects were further investigated in traditional textbooks such as the canon of medicine by Avicenna and Alhavi by Razi. At the end, the results were discussed. Result: The use of anticoagulants can reduce the clot formation and lower the VEGF release. In this way, vascularization will be reduced, consequently leading to a decrease in melasma occurrence. The researchers of the present study went over the herbal components that were effective for treatment of melasma and found that most of them consisted of anticoagulants such as coumarin. Conclusion: The effect of herbal anticoagulants (administered orally) on melasma should be evaluated clinically and their combination with topical treatments is suggested.