Psychological Stress Impact on Neurotrophic Factor Levels in Patients With Androgenetic Alopecia and Correlation With Disease Progression

October 2024 in “ World Journal of Psychiatry ”

Yi Cheng, L Lv, Yu Cui, Xiaomei Han, Yan Zhang, Caixia Hu

androgenetic alopecia psychological stress neurotrophic factors cortisol nerve growth factor brain-derived neurotrophic factor glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor neurotrophin-3 neurotrophin-4 minoxidil AGA Rogaine

From the encyclopedia

Hydrocortisone →

a synthetic cortisol used for anti-inflammatory effects

Minoxidil →

An essential vasodilator with some anti-androgenic effects

Studysummary In this study, patients with androgenetic alopecia experiencing stress had higher cortisol levels and altered neurotrophic factors compared to non-stressed patients, which correlated with more severe hair loss progression even after minoxidil treatment.

Our plain-language summary. Not medical advice or a treatment recommendation. Consult a qualified healthcare professional before changing treatment. Full disclaimer

This study involving 120 patients with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) found that psychological stress significantly impacts neurotrophic factor levels and correlates with disease progression. Patients were divided into stress (n=90) and non-stress (n=30) groups. The stress group exhibited higher cortisol levels and altered neurotrophic factor profiles, including reduced levels of nerve growth factor, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, but increased levels of neurotrophin-3 and neurotrophin-4. These changes were associated with more severe AGA progression, even after 1 year of treatment with 5% minoxidil. The study suggests that managing both physiological and psychological aspects of AGA is crucial, although its retrospective design and small sample size limit the generalizability of the findings.

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