Scientists have discovered something interesting about male pattern baldness. This clue could, potentially, lead to treatment for it. This is probably very exciting news for people who have a family history of this particular type of hair loss.
Male pattern baldness is also called androgenetic alopecia (AGA). It tends to affect more men than women, which is probably why it is generally called male pattern baldness. However, women can also experience this form of hair loss.
It has been known for quite some time that male pattern baldness runs in families. Men whose fathers, or grandfathers, lost their hair at a young age may have inherited the genes that cause male pattern baldness from their ancestors. Those particular genes are not always passed on to every male descendant, and it can skip a generation, (in some cases).
A previous study found that there is a certain genetic defect that affects the way that hair follicle stem cells convert to progenitor cells. A stem cell is the basis for cell specialization. What starts as a stem cell can change into another kind of cell. The previous study focused on the number of progenitor cells that existed.
Researchers looked at samples of progenitor cells that were taken from the scalps of both bald and non-bald people who had androgenetic alopecia. The bald samples had significantly fewer of the progenitor cells that are required for normal hair follicle development.
Recently, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found out something new, and significant, about male pattern baldness. They discovered it by studying men who were bald, and laboratory mice who were bald. The researchers already knew that the male sex hormone testosterone plays a key role in causing hair loss, and that genetic factors also play a role.
The researchers analyzed which genes are switched on in men who begin to lose their hair. They found that an important protein, called prostaglandin D synthase, is elevated in the cells of hair follicles that are located in the bald patches of the scalp. The protein is not found in the areas of the scalp that are able to continue to grow hair. This particular protein inhibits hair growth.
It is hoped that this discovery will lead to a new treatment for male pattern baldness. The next step is for the researchers to create a compound that will affect the inhibition of hair growth that is triggered when the protein binds to the cells in a hair follicle. Perhaps, one day, there will be a cure for the heritable condition of androgenetic alopecia.
Image by Mike Burns on Flickr