Faculty Opinions Recommendation of Does D Matter? The Role of Vitamin D in Hair Disorders and Hair Follicle Cycling.

The review highlighted that the vitamin D receptor (VDR), rather than vitamin D itself, appeared to be the primary factor in hair disorders and hair follicle cycling. Research over the past decade indicated that VDR played a crucial role in hair growth, potentially independent of vitamin D, as demonstrated by genetic studies and hair reconstitution assays using VDR-null hair cells in mice. The mechanism by which VDR influenced hair growth initiation remained unclear, but its impact on the anagen phase of the hair cycle suggested that targeting VDR could be beneficial for treating chemotherapy-induced hair loss. The review emphasized the need to find compounds that could upregulate or modulate VDR expression, as human studies had primarily focused on vitamin D.