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

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.