BACKGROUND Finasteride, a type II-selective 5alpha-reductase inhibitor, as a causative agent of decreasing dihydroxy testosterone (DHT) level, is effective in the treatment of male androgenic alopecia. AIM We compared the local and oral finasteride in the treatment of androgenic alopecia. METHOD This is a double blind, randomized clinical trial study of 45 male patients, who were referred w...

Here, we sketch why significant progress in the as yet very unsatisfactory pharmacological management of hair loss demands more rational strategies for ‘hair drug’ development, which effectively target defined key events in hair follicle cycling and transformation. Chiefly, drugs need to be identified that serve as inhibitors of catagen, exogen and/or the terminal-to-vellus transformation, or t...

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a disorder that involves gradual loss of hair in genetically predisposed individuals and is more prominent in men than women. Ethnically, white male are affected the most [1]; the estimated prevalence of AGA in Caucasian populations by the age of 80 is over 90% [2]. Physiological changes which occur during AGA include hair follicle miniaturization and variations i...

Weathering or long-term burial may cause profound morphological and histological changes in hair, which may affect the results of forensic and archaeological investigations. We therefore used ultramicroscopic techniques to assay the changes in weathering hair shafts caused by burial for up to 25 years. We found that the middle portion of hair shafts from living individuals shows the expected hi...

Ten years ago, Hardy (1992) wrote a timely review on the major features of hair follicle development and hair growth which she referred to as a secret life. Many of these secrets are now being revealed. The information discussed in this brief review comprises the structure of the hair and hair follicle, the continuing characterisation of the genes for keratin and keratin associated proteins, th...

Despite increased interest in inner ear hair cell regeneration, it is still unclear what exact mechanisms underlie hair cell regeneration in mammals because of our limited understanding of hair cell development and the lack of specific hair cell markers. In this report, we studied hair cell development using immunohistochemistry on sections prepared from embryonic day (E) 13 to postnatal day 7 ...

SIGNIFICANCE Male and female pattern hair loss are common, chronic dermatologic disorders with limited therapeutic options. In recent years, a number of commercial devices using low-level laser therapy have been promoted, but there have been little peer-reviewed data on their efficacy. OBJECTIVE To determine whether treatment with a low-level laser device, the US FDA-cleared HairMax Lasercomb...

We analyzed changes of growth and apoptotic cell death in human hair follicles. In anagen hair follicles, terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate-biotin nick labeling-positive cells were observed in the keratogenous zone of the upper bulb matrix, the inner root sheath, and the companion layer of the outer root sheath. DNA ladder formation was also detected in ana...

BACKGROUND Many of today's treatments associated with 'thinning hair', such as female pattern hair loss and telogen effluvium, are focused on two of the key aspects of the condition. Over-the-counter or prescription medications are often focused on improving scalp hair density while high-quality cosmetic products work to prevent further hair damage and minimize mid-fibre breakage. Fibre diamete...