New genetic clues help explain baldness

4^th January 2011 - A genetic defect in the way hair follicle cells develop may play an important role in male-pattern baldness and offer an alternative avenue for future treatments.

A new study suggests that a defect in the way hair follicle stem cells convert to progenitor cells may be an underling cause of androgenetic alopecia (AGA). AGA is a common form of hair loss in both men and women, including male -pattern baldness.

Male-pattern baldness is the most common type of hair loss, affecting around 6.5 million men in the UK. Tricologists in the UK have described the research as “exciting”, but caution that future treatments based on the study will still be some years off.

Stem cells

Stem cells have the ability to be turned into specialist cells in the body. Progenitor cells represent the next step up in cell development.

Researchers say male-pattern baldness is associated with a significant decrease in hair follicle size, which could be related to a loss of the hair follicle stem or progenitor cells necessary for normal development.

To test this theory, researchers compared the number of these cells in bald and non-bald scalp cell samples from people with AGA.

The results, published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, showed that the bald scalp samples had significantly fewer of the progenitor cells needed for normal hair follicle development.

Researcher Luis Garza of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in the US and colleagues say the findings suggest that a genetic defect in the conversion of hair follicle stem cells to progenitor cells may contribute to male-pattern baldness. If further studies confirm this, it could offer a new target for the development of male-pattern baldness treatments.

Reaction

The study has been described as “very exciting news” by Dr Bassam Farjo, medical director of the Institute of Tricologists in the UK.  

He tells us: “They are hypothesising that there must be a switch that turns off in the process of converting these stem cells into progentitor cells when it comes to losing hair. And if we can somehow find what switches this thing on and off, then that could promise a potential future treatment.

“Maybe for 30 years now, people have been saying ‘in 10 years’ time there’ll be a cure for baldness'.

“Although we’re discovering new things all the time, and we get excited about various things, not just with hair but with everything,  there’s a lot more that we don’t know than we do. But this certainly a clue that we’ve been given.”

His Farjo Medical Centre in Manchester is beginning clinical trials next year where growth factors from the body will be injected into the scalp to see if they can stimulate existing cells.  “We were just hyposthesising”, he says, but “this proves that this is a viable method of research.”