Stop Hair Loss, Block Protein?
Baldness is one of those common conditions that unfortunately remain without cure. Even with modern science making several advances to tie loose ends, baldness is still a problem for many men and women of today; and until a universally accessible and legitimate cure shows up, to stop hair loss will always be a challenge.
Androgenetic alopecia or pattern baldness is the common balding condition affecting both sexes. For many years, it has been believed that the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is key to AGA. Recently, however, a group of scientists have provided proof that there are other factors that play major roles in AGA. One specific factor is protein.
Prostaglandin: The Hair Loss€"Causing Protein?
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania believe they have found the major piece of the hair loss puzzle that's been troubling men since time immemorial. They claimed to have found the real cause of common baldness in men and are developing a solution to stop hair loss based on their findings.
With a main goal to understand the potential biological causes of male pattern baldness, researchers found that the amount of the protein called prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) is elevated in a severely balding scalp than in a mildly bald scalp. PGD2 is not present in any other hairy parts of the body.
PGD2 is the major prostanoid produced in the brains of rats and in humans. They are chemical messengers involved in several physiological functions such as regulating sleep, allergic responses, cell growth, and constricting and dilating smooth muscle tissue. They bind with the receptors in their target cells such as the GPR44 receptor on hair follicles.
To corroborate their findings, they used mouse models. In mice, PGD2 levels were also elevated prior to the regression phase in the hair growth cycle. Scientists believe its inhibiting capacity when it was added to cultured hair follicles that the follicles shrunk thereafter, so they failed to develop further. These findings would later establish their conclusion that PGD2 inhibits hair growth in AGA.
The Way to a Cure
Apparently this discovery gives a flicker of hope to people suffering from the beyond-physical effects of alopecia. Fortunately, there is already quite a variety of experimental drugs used to block protein receptors. Still, the researchers couldn't give an absolute guarantee that protein blockers can stop hair loss and regrow hair.
Additionally, this paves the way for new hair loss treatments, if not for a cure. But will this truly be a way to a cure for baldness? Or does it hold the same false promise that stem cell therapy once held when it was first introduced as the closest link to a cure? The answer couldn't be far behind.
Androgenetic alopecia or pattern baldness is the common balding condition affecting both sexes. For many years, it has been believed that the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is key to AGA. Recently, however, a group of scientists have provided proof that there are other factors that play major roles in AGA. One specific factor is protein.
Prostaglandin: The Hair Loss€"Causing Protein?
Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania believe they have found the major piece of the hair loss puzzle that's been troubling men since time immemorial. They claimed to have found the real cause of common baldness in men and are developing a solution to stop hair loss based on their findings.
With a main goal to understand the potential biological causes of male pattern baldness, researchers found that the amount of the protein called prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) is elevated in a severely balding scalp than in a mildly bald scalp. PGD2 is not present in any other hairy parts of the body.
PGD2 is the major prostanoid produced in the brains of rats and in humans. They are chemical messengers involved in several physiological functions such as regulating sleep, allergic responses, cell growth, and constricting and dilating smooth muscle tissue. They bind with the receptors in their target cells such as the GPR44 receptor on hair follicles.
To corroborate their findings, they used mouse models. In mice, PGD2 levels were also elevated prior to the regression phase in the hair growth cycle. Scientists believe its inhibiting capacity when it was added to cultured hair follicles that the follicles shrunk thereafter, so they failed to develop further. These findings would later establish their conclusion that PGD2 inhibits hair growth in AGA.
The Way to a Cure
Apparently this discovery gives a flicker of hope to people suffering from the beyond-physical effects of alopecia. Fortunately, there is already quite a variety of experimental drugs used to block protein receptors. Still, the researchers couldn't give an absolute guarantee that protein blockers can stop hair loss and regrow hair.
Additionally, this paves the way for new hair loss treatments, if not for a cure. But will this truly be a way to a cure for baldness? Or does it hold the same false promise that stem cell therapy once held when it was first introduced as the closest link to a cure? The answer couldn't be far behind.
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