Male pattern hair loss and cardiovascular risk factors in men and women: A comparative study.
Arias-Santiago S, Gutiérrez-Salmerón MT, Castellote-Caballero L, Buendía-Eisman A, Naranjo-Sintes R.

Dermatology Units, San Cecilio University Hospital, Granada, Spain.

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Numerous studies in recent decades have associated male androgenetic alopecia (AGA or pattern hair loss ) with the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, only 3 studies have addressed this association in female patients. Most studies considered the risk of myocardial infarction or mortality as a result of heart disease, without analyzing cardiovascular risk factors. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to analyze the presence of cardiovascular risk factors included in the Adult Treatment Panel-III criteria for metabolic syndrome, the prevalence of carotid atheromatosis, hormonal (aldosterone, insulin, testosterone, and sex hormone-binding globulin) factors, and acute phase reactant (C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, D-dimers, erythrocyte sedimentation rate) variables in male and female patients with AGA and in a control group, and to analyze differences among the groups. METHODS: This case-control study included 154 participants, 77 with early-onset AGA (40 male and 37 female) and 77 healthy control subjects (40 male and 37 female) from the dermatology department at a university hospital in Granada, Spain. RESULTS: Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in 60% of male patients with AGA (odds ratio [OR] = 10.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.3-32.5), 48.6% of female patients with AGA (OR = 10.73, 95% CI 2.7-41.2), 12.5% of male control subjects, and 8.1% of female control subjects. Atheromatous plaques were observed in 32.5% of male patients with AGA (OR = 5.93, 95% CI 1.5-22.9) versus 7.5% of male control subjects (P = .005) and 27% of female patients with AGA (OR = 4.19, 95% CI 1.05-16.7) versus 8.1% of female control subjects (P = .032). Aldosterone and insulin levels were significantly higher in the male and female patients with AGA versus their respective control subjects. Mean values of fibrinogen were significantly higher in male patients with AGA, whereas values of fibrogen, C-reactive protein, and D-dimers were significantly higher in female patients with AGA versus their respective control subjects. LIMITATIONS: The study of a wider sample of patients with AGA would confirm these findings and allow a detailed analysis of the above factors as a function of the degree of alopecia or between menopausal and premenopausal women. CONCLUSION: The determination of metabolic syndrome and ultrasound study of the carotid arteries may be useful screening methods to detect risk of developing cardiovascular disease in male and female patients with early-onset hair loss and signal a potential opportunity for early preventive treatment.

Edited for blog use

Alopecia: botanical approaches in review.
Abdullah F, Rashid RM.

Abstract
The use of herbal medications in dermatologic disease has become common practice among consumers. In this paper, the authors review and discuss the existing evidence-based botanical modalities in the peer-reviewed literature with a particular focus on various presentations of hair loss. To maximize potential clinical application, this review has been limited to human studies. The goal of the study was to provide a thorough evaluation of the current understanding of the use of non-pharmaceutical botanical products in the treatment of hair loss.

keywords: hair loss treatment hai rregrowth

Modified for hair loss blog

Does D matter? The role of vitamin D in hair disorders and hair follicle cycling.
Amor KT, Rashid RM, Mirmirani P.

exerpt..

"...Limited studies have been done in humans to elaborate the role of vitamin D in the hair cycle. A potential application for vitamin D is in chemotherapy-induced hair loss. Topical calcitriol has been shown to protect against chemotherapy-induced alopecia caused by paclitaxel and cyclophosphamide. However, topical calcitriol failed to protect against chemotherapy-induced hair loss caused by a combination of 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide and a combination of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil [36, 37]. The ability of topical calcitriol to prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia may therefore depend on the chemotherapy agents used. Of note, the studies in which no effects were observed, were small and may have used doses of vitamin D that were inadequate to protect against chemotherapy-induced hair loss. The more potent vitamin D3 analogs used on mice by Vegesna et al. have yet to be evaluated in humans.

Another potential application for vitamin D is in hair loss due to scalp psoriasis, which is associated with an increased telogen to anagen ratio. Although vitamin D3 analogs have been used in combination or as an alternative to topical steroids to treat scalp psoriasis for many years, their ability to combat the associated hair loss has not been thoroughly evaluated. A placebo-controlled trial with 26 patients showed that calcipotriol did not affect the telogen to anagen ratio after 6 weeks of treatment, but the optimal effect of calcipotriol on scalp psoriasis is not seen until 8 weeks. Thus, the follow up may have been too brief to detect an effect of calcipotriol on hair loss.

It has been suggested that an optimal concentration of vitamin D is necessary to delay the aging phenomena, including hair loss. A cross sectional study of 296 healthy men was done to determine the association, if any, between male pattern baldness and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels. Based on this study, the extent and severity of male pattern baldness does not appear to be associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels . Additional studies in subjects with age-related or senescent hair thinning as well as in women with female pattern hair loss could be considered to see if there is an association of hair loss with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels.

Because it is known that the absence of VDR leads to hair loss, it was hypothesized that there may be VDR gene polymorphisms (Bsml, Apal, and Taql) in patients with alopecia areata. A study of VDR genotypes in 32 patients with alopecia areata and 27 controls showed no association between these VDR gene polymorphisms and alopecia areata. A separate study also showed that there was no relationship between the VDR gene FokI polymorphism and alopecia areata......

edited for hair loss blog

Protective effect of melatonin on oxidative stress inducing hair follicle injury in scald rat

Zhang J, et al

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the protective effect of the radical scavenger melatonin on residual hair follicle cells of scald rats at early stage. METHODS: Eighteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into scald group, treatment group, sham group , with 6 rats in each group. The rats in scald group and treatment group were subjected to 30% TBSA partial thickness scald on the back, and were resuscitated with balanced solution after 1 hour, while those in sham group were immersed in water at 37 degrees C for 25 s to simulate scald, and did not receive fluid replacement. Rats in treatment group were intraperitoneally injected with 10 mg/kg melatonin solution at 1 minute, 8 hours and 12 hours after scald, while those in sham group and scald group were given equal volume of 1% vehicle instead. Tissue samples were harvested at 6, 12 and 24 post scald hours (PSH) for determination of MDA and GSH levels. Apoptosis of residul hair follicle was detected by TUNEL method and immunohistochemistry of caspase-3.

RESULTS: The level of MDA in scald group at each time point was much higher than that in sham group and treatment group and it peaked at 12 PSH. The changes in GSH were just opposite to that of MDA. Under fluorescence microscope, the residual hair follicle cells were blue, and the apoptotic cells appeared green. The apoptosis rate in scald group at 6, 12, 24 PSH was obviously higher than that in sham and treatment groups The score of caspase-3 positive cell in scald group was higher than those in sham group and treatment group.

CONCLUSIONS: There is obvious correlation between oxidative stress and apoptosis rate of hair follicle cells in rats with partial thickness scald. Early administration of melatonin may have anti-apoptosis ability for residual hair follicle cells by attenuation of oxidative stress. (edited)

Redox signalling modulates the hair cycle. Dr. Proctor discovered this over 30 years ago.

Chadha V, Shenoi SD

Abstract

The hair loss in 8 cancer patients aged between 18 and 60 years on chemotherapy was studied. All had diffuce moderate hair loss within 1 month of starting treatment. Of the 8, 3 had only telogen hairs and 3 had high dystrophic hair count. Both anagen and telogen effluvium are implicated.

Discussion

All patients had hair loss within 1 month after the onset of chemotherapy which suggested anagen effluvium. The trichogram results in 3 patients suggested a telogen effluvium either due to the stress of the disease or due to chemotherapy. It is also possible that anagen hairs were already shed, leaving telogen hairs. Three cases showed a high dystrophic hair count. The fall which was initially severe continued during the course of treatment.

Alopecia is one of the most traumatic side effects of cancer chemotherapy and changes in self-concept and body image can develop. Hair loss following chemotherapy is termed 'anagen effluvium' and is defined as the loss of dystrophic anagen hairs within several days of a metabolic insult due to abrupt decrease or cessation of reproduction of matrix cells.

Various measures have been tried to prevent hair loss. Topical minoxidil has been found to decrease the duration of alopecia by chemotherapy.[4] Cooling the scalp immediately before and for a long tine after administration of drug bolus is another common approach and found effective.[5] However it may not work when multiple drug regimes or very high doses of individual drugs are used. In animal models, topical agents such as Imuvert,[6] cyclosporin A[7] and 1,25­dithydroxyvitaminD3[8] have prevented chemotherapy-induced alppecia.

Dr Proctor: The key point here is that it has been generally-assumed that chemotherapy-induced hair loss is from the anagen (growth) phase. Hwever, it appears that much is from the loss (telogen) phase. This means that chemotherapy induces anagen hair to go into the loss phase.

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