Minoxidil Acts as an Antiandrogen: A Study of 5α-Reductase Type 2 Gene Expression in a Human Keratinocyte Cell Line

December 2017 in “ PubMed ”

Erkin Pekmezci, Murat Türkoğlu

minoxidil 5α-reductase androgenetic alopecia female pattern hair loss keratinocyte 5α-reductase type 2 antiandrogen alopecia Rogaine AGA FPHL

TLDR Minoxidil may help treat hair loss by reducing the activity of a specific enzyme linked to baldness.

The 2017 study "Minoxidil Acts as an Antiandrogen: A Study of 5α-reductase Type 2 Gene Expression in a Human Keratinocyte Cell Line" investigated the interaction between minoxidil, a common treatment for hair loss, and the enzyme 5α-reductase (5α-R), which plays a significant role in androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and female pattern hair loss (FPHL). The researchers treated a human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) with minoxidil and observed the in vitro expression levels of 5α-R type 2 (5α-R2). The results showed a significant downregulation of 5α-R2 gene expression in the minoxidil-treated cells, with a 0.22 fold change (p < 0.0001). This suggests that minoxidil's antiandrogenic effect, demonstrated by the downregulation of 5α-R2, could be one of its mechanisms of action in treating alopecia.

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