glycoprotein that inhibits TGF-β and promotes hair growth by antagonizing activin
- How does follistatin compare to finasteride or dutasteride for treating androgenic alopecia? Finasteride and dutasteride are prescription drugs with large controlled trials showing they lower DHT and slow androgenic hair loss, at the cost of documented hormonal side effects; follistatin targets a different, regenerative pathway but has only one small phase 1 human trial behind it, so it is experimental with unknown safety rather than a comparable alternative.
- How does SCUBE3 work on hair follicles compared to treatments like minoxidil or finasteride? Laboratory research in mice reports that SCUBE3, a protein released by dermal papilla cells, signals dormant follicles to grow through the TGF-β pathway downstream of Hedgehog; minoxidil and finasteride instead work on blood flow to the follicle and on DHT, and unlike SCUBE3 they have decades of human trial data behind them. SCUBE3 has not been tested in human clinical trials and is not available as a medicine.
mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC) inhibitor by Pelage in early trials
highly targeted anti-androgen that might have minimal systemic effects
natural substance from Neem tree with medicinal and pesticidal properties
signaling protein that, when suppressed, may grow hair by reducing inflammation and stem cell loss
