Male-Pattern Baldness and Its Association with Coronary Heart Disease

The study investigated the association between male-pattern baldness (MPB) and coronary heart disease (CHD) using data from 1,675 men in the Heinz Nixdorf Recall study and a meta-analysis of 22,518 men. Epidemiologically, weak associations were found between MPB and CHD (HR=1.5[0.8-2.7]), diabetes (PRR=1.5[1.0;2.1]), BMI (ß=1.4kg/m²), elevated fasting triglycerides (ß=8.0mg/dL), and lower HDL-C levels (ß=-2.7mg/dL). Genetically, no significant association was found between a 63 SNP MPB risk score and CHD, but age-stratified analysis showed a 4% per allele risk increase for CHD and a decrease in fasting triglyceride levels (ß=-0.5). No genome-wide genetic correlation was found between MPB and 110 (cardio)metabolic or lipid traits, but seven overlapping associations were identified at individual loci. The study suggested that FGF5 and ATF1 signaling pathways, which regulate cell growth and differentiation in hair follicles and cardiac myocytes, might be shared biological pathways between MPB and CHD.