5 alpha reductase

[Dice_Has_Hair]

Okay!! We have a drug that inhibits 5 alpha reductase type 2 which is finasteride.
We have another drug that inhibits both, 5 alpha reductase type 1 and type 2, which is dutasteride.

My question is, has anyone heard or read that there will be a drug that just inhibits 5 alpha reductase type 1? Would be nice, since its that particular type that is found in scalp tissue and other skin places and sebaceous glands.

 

[Deaner]

It's called Saw Palmetto and it doesn't work, because 5ar Type 2 is predominant in hair loss.

 

[Dice_Has_Hair]

It's called Saw Palmetto and it doesn't work, because 5ar Type 2 is predominant in hair loss.

Makes me wonder why type 2 would be since it is mainly found in prostate tissue. The only thing that explains why Propecia works is the fact that it lowers the "amount" of DHT in the blood, therefore limiting the amount that goes to the scalp. :?

 

[Bryan]

It's called Saw Palmetto and it doesn't work, because 5ar Type 2 is predominant in hair loss.

Makes me wonder why type 2 would be since it is mainly found in prostate tissue. The only thing that explains why Propecia works is the fact that it lowers the "amount" of DHT in the blood, therefore limiting the amount that goes to the scalp. :?

Besides the prostate, the type 2 enzyme is also the predominant one in the dermal papillae of hair follicles. That's why finasteride works for hairloss.

If I had a dollar for every time this question has come up in the last several years, I could be living in St. Tropez on a yacht, and sipping champagne and eating caviar while cavorting with topless French girls on the beach all day long! :wink:

Bryan

 

[Dice_Has_Hair]

It's called Saw Palmetto and it doesn't work, because 5ar Type 2 is predominant in hair loss.

Makes me wonder why type 2 would be since it is mainly found in prostate tissue. The only thing that explains why Propecia works is the fact that it lowers the "amount" of DHT in the blood, therefore limiting the amount that goes to the scalp. :?

Besides the prostate, the type 2 enzyme is also the predominant one in the dermal papillae of hair follicles. That's why finasteride works for hairloss.

If I had a dollar for every time this question has come up in the last several years, I could be living in St. Tropez on a yacht, and sipping champagne and eating caviar while cavorting with topless French girls on the beach all day long! :wink:

Bryan

If I had a dollar for every time this question has come up in the last several years, I could be living in St. Tropez on a yacht, and sipping champagne and eating caviar while cavorting with topless French girls on the beach all day long!
And with a full head of hair too, right? :lol:

 

[Bryan]

Just so you won't think I'm making this up, consider the following excellent study: "Finasteride is the main inhibitor of 5a-reductase activity in microdissected dermal papillae of human hair follicles", Rolf Hoffman and Rudolf Happle, Arch Dermatol Res (1999) 291:100-103 . Here's the main result from their testing (MK386 is an experimental drug from Merck...it's a specific type 1 inhibitor):

"Our results showed that even 10 nM of finasteride completely inhibited 5AR activity in all DP [dermal papillae] investigated. These results were reproducible in all experiments. MK-386 (maximum concentration 1 micro-mol/l), however, did not consistently inhibit or increase 5AR in DP. In fact, for MK-386 no clear dose-response relationship was apparent."

Bryan

 

[Dice_Has_Hair]

Just so you won't think I'm making this up, consider the following excellent study: "Finasteride is the main inhibitor of 5a-reductase activity in microdissected dermal papillae of human hair follicles", Rolf Hoffman and Rudolf Happle, Arch Dermatol Res (1999) 291:100-103 . Here's the main result from their testing (MK386 is an experimental drug from Merck...it's a specific type 1 inhibitor):

"Our results showed that even 10 nM of finasteride completely inhibited 5AR activity in all DP [dermal papillae] investigated. These results were reproducible in all experiments. MK-386 (maximum concentration 1 micro-mol/l), however, did not consistently inhibit or increase 5AR in DP. In fact, for MK-386 no clear dose-response relationship was apparent."

Bryan

I have no doubts you would tell the truth. Before I started this thread, I was trying to find where I "thought" I read that finasteride inhibited the 5 alpha reductase type 2 in the dermal papillae of the human hair, but I couldn't find it. All I found was that the prostate was predominately 5 alpha reductase type 2 sensitive, and the type 1 was found mainly in the scalp and other various tissues like skin. So let me ask a question. Why would saw palmetto not work, since it helps the prostate? Does the saw palmetto extract treat the prostate in a different way other than 5 alpha reductase inhibition? Sounds like it, cause if it did inhibit 5 alpha reductase type 2, then it would help people with male pattern baldness. Hhhmm.....weird. :?

 

[Bryan]

Who knows? Saw palmetto _may_ be helpful for hairloss, but there's a dearth of any serious testing to prove it. There's that one study co-authored by Geno Marcovici that tested some kind of saw palmetto extract, but it's been widely criticized and isn't taken very seriously by most people.

BTW, I should emphasize that it's not even clear exactly how saw palmetto helps the PROSTATE, much less hair follicles. It's been clearly shown that taking saw palmetto has no effect on serum levels of DHT, so nobody knows exactly what's going on with that stuff.

Bryan

 

[Atlas]

Zinc also helps your body fight the 5a-reductase enzyme.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_pattern_baldness

"Zinc is an inhibitor of 5-Alpha- Reductase (5AR) and may regulate its activity. 5AR is needed by the body in order to create DHT, which is thought to play a central role in male pattern baldness. Propecia works by inhibiting 5AR."

 

[Dice_Has_Hair]

Zinc also helps your body fight the 5a-reductase enzyme.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Male_pattern_baldness

"Zinc is an inhibitor of 5-Alpha- Reductase (5AR) and may regulate its activity. 5AR is needed by the body in order to create DHT, which is thought to play a central role in male pattern baldness. Propecia works by inhibiting 5AR."

Yes I have heard that and the question is, does it inhibit 5 alpha reductase type 2? I would assume so, since zinc helps to keep prostate healthy and the prostate is predominately type 2 5 alpha reductase.