Skin Drugs

Clin Interv Aging. 2006 June; 1(2): 121

Pharmacologic interventions in aging hair
Ralph M Trüeb

Abstract

The appearance of hair plays an important role in people’s overall physical appearance and self-perception. With today’s increasing life-expectations, the desire to look youthful plays a bigger role than ever. The hair care industry has become aware of this and is delivering active products directed towards meeting this consumer demand. The discovery of pharmacological targets and the development of safe and effective drugs also indicate strategies of the drug industry for maintenance of healthy and beautiful hair. Hair aging comprises weathering of the hair shaft, decrease of melanocyte function, and decrease in hair production. The scalp is subject to intrinsic and extrinsic aging. Intrinsic factors are related to individual genetic and epigenetic mechanisms with interindividual variation: prototypes are familial premature graying, and male pattern hair loss. Currently available pharmacologic treatment modalities with proven efficacy for treatment of androgenetic alopecia are topical minoxidil and oral finasteride. Extrinsic factors include ultraviolet radiation and air pollution. Experimental evidence supports the hypothesis that oxidative stress also plays a role in hair aging. Topical anti-aging compounds include photoprotectors and antioxidants. In the absence of another way to reverse hair graying, hair colorants remain the mainstay of recovering lost hair color.snip…

Hair Loss Blog

Semin Cutan Med Surg. 2009 Mar;28(1):11-4.

Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (hair loss).

Trüeb RM.

Few dermatologic conditions carry as much emotional distress as chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA). The prerequisite for successful development of strategies for CIA prevention is the understanding of the pathobiology of CIA. The incidence and severity of CIA are variable and related to the particular chemotherapeutic protocol. CIA is traditionally categorized as acute diffuse hair loss caused by dystrophic anagen effluvium; however, CIA presents with different clinical patterns of hair loss. When an arrest of mitotic activity occurs, obviously numerous and interacting factors influence the shedding pattern. The major approach to minimize CIA is by scalp cooling. Unfortunately, most published data on scalp cooling are of poor quality. Several experimental approaches to the development of pharmacologic agents are under evaluation and include drug-specific antibodies, hair growth cycle modifiers, cytokines and growth factors, antioxidants, inhibitors of apoptosis, and cell-cycle and proliferation modifiers. Ultimately, the protection should be selective to the hair follicle; for example, topical application, such that the anticancer efficacy of chemotherapy is not hampered. Among the few agents that have been evaluated so far in humans, AS101 and minoxidil were able to reduce the severity or shorten the duration of CIA, but could not prevent CIA.

Acta Dermatovenerol Alp Panonica Adriat. 2005 Mar;14(1):5-8.

Androgenetic alopecia and current methods of treatment.

Bienová M, Kucerová R, Fiurásková M, Hajdúch M, Koláà Z.

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a common dermatological condition affecting both men and women. In the case of men, up to 30% over the age of 30 and more than 50% over the age of 50 are affected. AGA also affects women although clinical signs are usually milder and associated with diffuse thinning of the scalp hair. AGA invariably causes serious psychological problems especially in women. By far the most promising approaches to the treatment of baldness in men are drug therapies, such as topical minoxidil and finasteride administered systemically. Mild to moderate AGA in women can be treated with antiandrogens and/or topical minoxidil with good results in many cases.

hair loss and hair loss treatment

Scand J Plast Reconstr Surg Hand Surg. 1997 Mar;31(1):83-6.

Minigraft preparation in surgical hair replacement.

Fan J, Raposio E, Nordström RE.

A 38-year-old man with Norwood type V male pattern baldness underwent hair restoration surgery using a new technique aimed to minimise the time spent on cutting minigrafts by using a multibladed knife. A total of 600 minigrafts were
harvested from the occipital region, prepared, and inserted into the bald area. This method significantly enhances the rate of minigraft preparation during hair transplantation procedures, as dividing minigrafts from hair-bearing strips of
scalp using a multibladed knife simplifies the whole cutting session. Furthermore, grafts prepared with the multibladed scalpel are more regular in size than those obtained with the traditional technique.

Curr Opin Chem Biol. 1997 Aug;1(2):254-9.

Steroid 5alpha-reductase inhibitors in androgen-dependent disorders.

Harris GS, Kozarich JW.

Department of Biochemistry, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ 07065-0900,USA.

Inhibition of the steroid 5alpha-reductases shows promise in the treatment of a number of androgen-dependent disorders, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, male pattern baldness, and acne. The design of potent and isozyme-selective inhibitors has provided biologists and clinicians with important tools forlucidating complex androgen physiology, and has already resulted in the development of one marketed drug.