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July, 2003
Production rates of testosterone and of
dihydrotestosterone in female pattern hair loss.
Vierhapper H, Maier H, Nowotny P, Waldhausl W.
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal
Medicine III, University of Vienna, Austria.
Production rates of testosterone (T) and of dihydrotestosterone (DHT)
were determined in young women (n=8, age, 23 to 40 years) with
female-pattern hair loss using the stable isotope dilution technique
and mass spectrometry. 1 alpha,2 alpha-d-testosterone and
2,3,4-13C-dihydro-testosterone were infused for 10 hours at a dose of
2 microg/h each and blood samples were obtained at 20-minute intervals
during the last 4 hours of the observation period. In the presence of
normal metabolic clearance rates (MCRs), production rates of T were
increased (9.4+/-5.0 microg/h; normal, 4.3+/-1.9 microg/h, P<.05).
MCRs of DHT (8.0+/-3.4 L/h; normal, 25.9+/-12.3 L/h, P<.002) were
subnormal in all women and the production rates of DHT were within or
below the normal range (mean, 1.6+/-0.6 microg/h; normal, 2.9+/-1.1
microg/h, P<.02). Unlike men with male-pattern baldness, women with
female-pattern baldness are characterized by increased production
rates of T, but not of DHT. These results are compatible with the idea
that 5 alpha-reductase inhibition is of no therapeutical value in
female-pattern baldness.
PMID: 12870172 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
 
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