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Female Pattern Hair Loss (female + pattern_hair_loss)

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Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Female pattern hair loss, sebum excretion and the end-organ response to androgens

BRITISH JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 1 2006
M.P. Birch
Summary Background, Although female pattern hair loss can be a feature of hyperandrogenism, many women with hair loss show no clinical or biochemical features of androgen excess. It is possible that hair loss in nonhyperandrogenic women is due to a high level of response to androgens by scalp hair follicles. In this study we explored this idea using sebum excretion as a marker of the cutaneous end-organ response to androgens. Objectives, To test the hypothesis that hair loss in nonhyperandrogenic women is due to an increased cutaneous end-organ response to androgens. Methods, We studied 100 women, 41 with female pattern hair loss (without hirsutism), 29 with hirsutism (with and without scalp hair loss) and 30 subjects without hair problems. We measured hair density on the frontal scalp, forehead sebum excretion, serum free androgen index (FAI), and body mass index (BMI). Results, The mean FAI was significantly raised in hirsute women compared with nonhirsute women (P < 0·001), but there was no difference in FAI levels between nonhirsute women with and without hair loss. The mean BMI was also significantly elevated in hirsute women (P < 0·01) but there was no difference in BMI between nonhirsute women with and without hair loss. The mean sebum excretion was higher in hirsute women than nonhirsute women but the difference was not statistically significant. There was no difference in sebum excretion between nonhirsute women with and without hair loss. There was no correlation between hair density and sebum excretion. Conclusions, Our results show that sebum excretion is not elevated in women with female pattern hair loss. This may indicate that different androgen-response pathways operate in controlling hair growth and sebum excretion. The alternative explanation is that nonandrogenic mechanisms are involved in mediating hair loss in some women. [source]

Adenosine increases anagen hair growth and thick hairs in Japanese women with female pattern hair loss: A pilot, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial

THE JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 12 2008
Hajimu OURA
ABSTRACT Adenosine upregulates the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and fibroblast growth factor-7 in cultured dermal papilla cells. It has been shown that, in Japanese men, adenosine improves androgenetic alopecia due to the thickening of thin hair due to hair follicle miniaturization. To investigate the efficacy and safety of adenosine treatment to improve hair loss in women, 30 Japanese women with female pattern hair loss were recruited for this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Volunteers used either 0.75% adenosine lotion or a placebo lotion topically twice daily for 12 months. Efficacy was evaluated by dermatologists and by investigators and in phototrichograms. As a result, adenosine was significantly superior to the placebo according to assessments by dermatologists and investigators and by self-assessments. Adenosine significantly increased the anagen hair growth rate and the thick hair rate. No side-effects were encountered during the trial. Adenosine improved hair loss in Japanese women by stimulating hair growth and by thickening hair shafts. Adenosine is useful for treating female pattern hair loss in women as well as androgenetic alopecia in men. [source]

Successful treatment of female-pattern hair loss with spironolactone in a 9-year-old girl

AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 2 2009
Anosha Yazdabadi
ABSTRACT A 9-year-old prepubertal girl with female pattern hair loss treated with spironolactone 100 mg orally per day had objective improvement demonstrated by regrowth observed clinically and on comparison of pre- and post-treatment stereotactic scalp photographs taken 6 months apart. [source]

Treatment of female pattern hair loss with a combination of spironolactone and minoxidil

AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 1 2007
Carlijn Hoedemaker
SUMMARY A 53-year-old woman with clinical evidence of female pattern hair loss and histological evidence of androgenetic alopecia was initially treated with the oral antiandrogen spironolactone 200 mg daily. Serial scalp photography documented hair regrowth at 12 months; however, the hair regrowth plateaued, and at 24 months there had been no further improvement in hair density. Twice daily therapy with topical minoxidil 5% solution was then introduced and further regrowth documented, confirming the additive effect of combination therapy. [source]

Follicular miniaturization in female pattern hair loss: clinicopathological correlations

BRITISH JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY, Issue 5 2006
A.G. Messenger
Summary Background, The pathology of female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is characterized by an increase in the proportion of vellus follicles, manifest as a low terminal/vellus ratio. This is conventionally thought to be due to a progressive miniaturization of terminal hair follicles. There is also a prolongation of the latent period of the hair cycle (kenogen) in both male pattern hair loss and FPHL and follicles in kenogen may be difficult to classify histologically. Therefore, a low terminal/vellus ratio could be due to a preferential increase in the number of terminal follicles in kenogen rather than to a true increase in the number of vellus follicles. Objectives, To establish whether there is an increase in the absolute number of vellus follicles during the progression of FPHL, indicating a process of follicular miniaturization. Methods, We studied 42 women complaining of hair loss. The severity of the hair loss was graded clinically on a five-point scale from 1 (no obvious hair loss) to 5 (severe hair loss). Three 4-mm punch biopsies were taken from the frontal scalp of each patient, sectioned horizontally and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. Two levels were studied on each biopsy: through the mid-infundibular region and through the mid-isthmus. The following were counted: total follicles, terminal follicles, vellus follicles, anagen and telogen/catagen follicles. The results from the three biopsies from each subject were averaged and statistical evaluations performed on the mean values. Results, There was a progressive decline in mean total follicle count with increasing grade of hair loss (grade 1, 317 cm,2; grade 5, 243 cm,2) and a more pronounced reduction in terminal follicle counts (grade 1, 263 cm,2; grade 5, 96 cm,2). The absolute number of vellus follicles increased from 33 cm,2 (grade 1) to 71 cm,2 (grade 4), declining to 51 cm,2 at grade 5. The terminal/vellus ratio fell from 12·8 (grade 1) to 2·3 (grade 4) and remained at this level thereafter. The proportion of follicles in telogen increased from 13·7% (grade 1) to 31·4% (grade 5). Conclusions, Our results show that there is an increase in vellus follicle numbers with increasing severity of hair loss in women with FPHL, suggesting that terminal follicles do indeed miniaturize. It is possible that there is also an increase in the number of follicles in a latent stage of telogen but this was difficult to assess from our data. The fall in total follicle counts with stabilizing of the terminal/vellus ratio in severe hair loss suggests that miniaturization does not stop with a vellus follicle but progresses to follicular deletion. [source]