Sexual Hormones in Human Skin

    February 2007 in “ Hormone and metabolic research ”
    Christos C. Zouboulis, W.-C. Chen, M. Julie Thornton, Kenan Qin, RobertL Rosenfield
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    TLDR Human skin makes sexual hormones that affect hair growth, skin health, and healing; too much can cause acne and hair loss, while treatments can manage these conditions.
    The document from 2007 discusses how human skin synthesizes sexual hormones, which have various local effects. Sebaceous and sweat glands are key contributors to this process, with sebocytes and sweat glands converting prohormones into more potent androgens like testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Five major enzymes regulate the activation and deactivation of androgens in the skin, which influence skin functions such as sebaceous gland activity, hair growth, and wound healing through the androgen receptor. High levels of androgens can lead to skin conditions like acne, seborrhoea, hirsutism, and androgenetic alopecia. Estrogens, which act through different receptors, are implicated in skin aging, pigmentation, hair growth, sebum production, and skin cancer. Progestins do not cause skin disorders but are used in treating hirsutism and acne vulgaris, often in combination with estrogens to suppress ovarian androgen production. This treatment can reduce shaving frequency and arrest hirsutism progression, as well as reliably reduce acne. Anti-androgens like cyproterone acetate and spironolactone are effective in reducing hirsutism, but individual responses vary.
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