Hair Loss and hair loss treatment

Br J Dermatol.1981;105(2):145

Decreased lymphocyte reactivity and auto-immunity in alopecia areata.

Friedmann PS.

T lymphocyte numbers and functions were measured in forty-six patients with hair loss associated with alopecia areata and thirty controls. In patients with hair loss, lymphocyte reactivity to extracts of scalp and hair follicles was not detected by 3H thymidine incorporation. 3H Thymidine incorporation by lymphocytes cultured with PPD, Varidase and C. albicans was significantly reduced in cells from patients compared with controls and correlated with the extent of hair loss and the presence of antithyroid antibodies. ….snip.. The relationship of reduced T cell function and auto-immunity to alopecia areata is discussed.

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hair loss blog

Eksp Med Morfol. 1975;14(2):83

Studies on the differences between the skin of nude mice and bald skin in man

Kadanov D.

The author carried out studies and established that in contrast to the bald skin of a man the elastic fibres in the skin of naked mice were completely normal and the small arteries and arterioles were with normal structure, because of which they could not be considered as a cause of degeneration of hair follicles, falling of hairs and of their irreplaceability with hairs grown externaly in these animals. The processes, occuring in the skin of the mice, are determined genetically and their manifestations represent changes in features, which, induced by mutation, are inherited.

J Invest Dermatol. 1997 Sep;109(3):329-33.

Autoantibodies to hair follicles in C3H/HeJ mice with alopecia areata-like hair loss.

Tobin DJ, et al

We have previously described spontaneous but reversible hair loss that clinically and histologically resembles human alopecia areata in a colony of C3H/HeJ mice. Alopecia areata in humans is associated with antibodies to hair follicles. This study was conducted to determine whether C3H/HeJ mice with hair loss have a similar abnormal antibody response to hair follicles. Eighteen C3H/HeJ mice with alopecia, 12 unaffected littermates, and 15 control mice were examined for circulating antibodies to C3H/HeJ anagen hair follicles by indirect immunofluorescence and against extracts of isolated C3H/HeJ and human anagen hair follicles by immunoblotting. Using both procedures, antibodies to anagen hair follicles were present in all C3H/HeJ mice with alopecia but in none of the control mice. The antibodies were also present in some unaffected C3H/HeJ littermates but were absent in mice of an unrelated strain with inflammatory skin disease and alopecia, indicating that their appearance did not result from the hair loss. These antibodies reacted to hair follicle-specific antigens of 40-60 kDa present in murine and human anagen hair follicles. These antigens were also reactive with human alopecia areata antibodies. Some of the antibodies in both C3H/HeJ mice and humans with alopecia areata reacted to antigens of 44 and 46 kDa, which were identified as hair follicle-specific keratins. This study indicates that C3H/HeJ mice with hair loss have circulating antibodies to hair follicles similar to those present in humans with alopecia areata. These findings confirm that these mice are an appropriate model for human alopecia areata and support the hypothesis that alopecia areata results from an abnormal autoimmune response to hair follicles.

Arch Dermatol Res. 1993;285(3):158-64.

Morphological analysis of in vitro human hair growth.

Tobin DJ, et al

The histological and ultrastructural aspect of normal human hair follicles maintained ex vivo for 12 days was evaluated. Anagen hair follicles, dissected free of contaminating connective tissue, were maintained for up to 12 days in a serum-free medium. Macroscopic observations revealed continued viability for 12 days, at which time some follicles involuted in a manner morphologically similar to catagen. Increased growth of maintained follicles was measured from the abrupt ending of the connective tissue sheath (CTS), as no increase in this component was observed from initiation of culture. In general follicles maintained up to 8 days exhibited little divergence from normal in vivo morphologies including the persistence of functional hair bulb melanocytes–a marker of anagen. After this time melanin granules were present in dermal papilla cells, as occurs during impending involution in vivo. Heterotypic cell contact occurred in the middle to upper follicle between outer root sheath (ORS) keratinocytes and disorganized CTS. Herniation of some ORS cells away from the follicle and the occurrence of loose desmosomal junctions between ORS keratinocytes reflected loss of normal follicular cell interactions in upper follicles maintained after 8 days. Continued hair follicle regrowth correlated with the presence of mitotic matrix keratinocytes even at 12 days. snip…..

Hair regrowth blog

J Ethnopharmacol. 2003 Oct;88(2-3):235-9.

In vivo and in vitro evaluation of hair growth potential of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Linn.
Adhirajan N, et al

Petroleum ether extract of leaves and flowers of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis was evaluated for its potential on hair growth by in vivo and in vitro methods. In vivo, 1% extract of leaves and flowers in liquid paraffin was applied topically over the shaved skin of albino rats and monitored and assessed for 30 days. The length of hair and the different cyclic phases of hair follicles, like anagen and telogen phases, were determined at different time periods. In vitro, the hair follicles from albino rat neonates were isolated and cultured in DMEM supplemented with 0.01 mg/ml petroleum ether extract of leaves and flowers. From the study it is concluded that the leaf extract, when compared to flower extract, exhibits more potency on hair regrowth.

Dr Proctor notes: A traditional treament for hair loss is shown to have some efficacy

Z Hautkr. 1979 May 15;54(10):426-9.

DNCB therapy of alopecia areata

Happle R.
Long-term treatment of alopecia areata with dinitrochlorobenzene is effective. During the last two and a half years, 227 patients who suffered, in the majority of cases, from total or subtotal hair loss, were treated by this method. Unilateral application of DNCB induced unilateral regrowth of hair in 88% of these patients. Under continuous treatment of both sides of the head, this initial response was followed by complete regrowth of hair in 78%. The same result could be obtained by application of squaric acid dibutylester, another potent contact allergen. This indicates that the essential mechanism is contact allergy. Possibly, the regrowth of hair is due to the induction of local nonspecific immunosuppression.

Br J Dermatol. 1981 Sep;105(3):285-9.

Response of alopecia areata to DNCB: influence of auto-antibodies and route of sensitization.

Friedmann PS.
The effects of treatment with topical 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) were observed in fifty-one patients with alopecia areata of at least 9 months duration. Patients were sensitized either by the application of 500 micrograms of DNCB in acetone to the forearm, or by painting affected areas of the left side of the scalp with a 1% solution. A mild to moderate dermatitis was maintained by weekly applications of DNCB. When the sensitizing dose was applied directly to the scalp, significantly more patients showed poor reactivity as judged by the eczematous response obtained, although the two routes of sensitization had comparable effects upon regrowth of hair. Hair regrew significantly more frequently in females. The likelihood of hair regrowth was reduced in patients with hair loss of long duration and in those with immunological disturbances such as autoantibodies or low T lymphocyte numbers and responses. The relationship of these factors to the disease and to the response to DNCB treatment is discussed.

J Drugs Dermatol. 2004 Jul-Aug;3(4):363-4.

5 alpha-reductase and finasteride in pattern alopecia and acne.
Burkhart CG, Burkhart CN.
PMID: 15303779

BJU Int. 2002 Jun;89(9):961-3.

Effects of the chronic use of finasteride on testicular weight and spermatogenesis in Wistar rats.
Rhoden EL, Gobbi D, Menti E, Rhoden C, Telöken C.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate spermatogenesis in rats chronically exposed to finasteride, as the recent use of finasteride in young men to prevent hair loss has raised concerns about chronic use and fertility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Wistar rats (4 months old) were selected and divided into two groups. Group 1 (17 rats) received a finasteride suspension of 2 mg/kg/day in saline solution, 5 days/week for 10 months; group 2 (eight rats of the same age) were treated with placebo for the same period. At the end of the exposure the testes were weighed and processed for histological analysis. Spermatogenesis was evaluated as the mean number of seminiferous tubules with and without spermatozoids in their lumen, in five random fields on the same slide. Student’s t-test was used to assess differences in the groups. RESULTS: In group 1, the mean (sd) weight of the testes was 1.55 (0.29) g and in group 2 1.58 (0.34). The histological analysis showed a mean of 13.35 (1.66) seminiferous tubules per field and 1.20 (3.30) tubules with no spermatozoids in group 1; in group 2 the respective values were 13.53 (1.46) and 0.06 (0.14) (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Finasteride had no detectable effects on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of spermatogenesis in rats.

BJU Int. 2002 Nov;90(7):682-5.

Hormonal treatment for male-pattern hair loss: implications for cancer of the prostate?

Anderson WR, Harris NM, Holmes SA.

Solent Department of Urology, St Mary’s Hospital, Portsmouth, UK.