More info on the vehicle in the topical melatonin study

[Bryan]

Some of you were interested in the recent topical melatonin for hairloss study in the British Journal of Dermatology, and I promised I'd report on the details when I got the full paper. Here's a whole paragraph from the "Materials and Methods" section near the beginning:

"The participants applied a 0.1% melatonin-alcohol solution (melatonin, high-purified; Helsinn Chemicals, Biasca, Switzerland) or alcohol solution alone topically once daily in the evening for 6 months. The daily amount to be applied was 1 mL given in eight spray hits (8 X 0.128 mL = 1.024 mL)."

Pretty simple dosing: 1 mL/day of a simple 0.1% melatonin solution in ethanol.

Bryan

 

[Bismarck]

is that the Fischer-study ?

bis

 

[Bryan]

Yes. For people who aren't already familiar with it, here's the full citation:

"Melatonin increases anagen hair rate in women with androgenetic alopecia or diffuse alopecia: results of a pilot randomized controlled trial", Fischer et al, British Journal of Dermatology 2004; 150: 341-345.

Bryan

 

[LiveHair]

--snippet--
Some of you were interested in the recent topical melatonin for hairloss study in the British Journal of Dermatology, and I promised I'd report on the details when I got the full paper.
--snippet--

Thanks Bryan!

Wasn't the conclusion, though, that it only had effect on occipital hair in women with androgenetic hair loss, not frontal hair loss? (For women with diffuse alopecia it had effect on frontal hair, but not for occipital hair).

So do you think this would beneficial for men with male pattern baldness?

LiveHair

 

[LiveHair]

One more thing . . .

You say to apply 0,1% melatonin per ml ethanol.
Maybe I am dense, but how many mg's of melatonin per ml ethanol does this equal?

Or is the melatonin from the Swiss company mentioned already disolved in ethanol?

LiveHair

 

[Guest]

Melatonin is illegal in the UK, but luckily I have a free thinking girlfriend who brought me back a warehouse load of the stuff last year from singapore.

Is there any value to sticking this stuff in my pestel and motar and adding to my minoxidil???

 

[Bismarck]

Melatonin is illegal in the UK, but luckily I have a free thinking girlfriend who brought me back a warehouse load of the stuff last year from singapore.

Is there any value to sticking this stuff in my pestel and motar and adding to my minoxidil???

Maybe. But you will be no longer able to post at 4.00 o'clock in the morning at HairLossTalk.com.

bis

 

[Guest]

Maybe. But you will be no longer able to post at 4.00 o'clock in the morning at HairLossTalk.com.

bis

have you been tracking me again bis?, I like to stay up late and drink cut price larger, naked, shoutng at the neighbours, it that wrong, does that make me a bad person?

 

[Bismarck]

Maybe. But you will be no longer able to post at 4.00 o'clock in the morning at HairLossTalk.com.

bis

have you been tracking me again bis?, I like to stay up late and drink cut price larger, naked, shoutng at the neighbours, it that wrong, does that make me a bad person?

I know your habits. Note that melatonin is systemically absorbed.

 

[Guest]

I know your habits. Note that melatonin is systemically absorbed.

to have a pronounced effect it needs to pass the blood brain barrier.

 

[Bismarck]

I know your habits. Note that melatonin is systemically absorbed.

to have a pronounced effect it needs to pass the blood brain barrier.

Yes. it does. Otherwise nobody would take this stuff ?

 

[Guest]

I know your habits. Note that melatonin is systemically absorbed.

to have a pronounced effect it needs to pass the blood brain barrier.

Yes. it does. Otherwise nobody would take this stuff ?

from the blood yes, but from the scalp?

 

[Bismarck]

I know your habits. Note that melatonin is systemically absorbed.

to have a pronounced effect it needs to pass the blood brain barrier.

Yes. it does. Otherwise nobody would take this stuff ?

from the blood yes, but from the scalp?

It has a depot effect in the stratum corneum and is slowly going into the bloodstream.

bis

 

[elguapo]

What are the (systemic) effects of melatonin, and why is it illegal in the UK?

 

[Guest]

What are the (systemic) effects of melatonin, and why is it illegal in the UK?

the systemic effects of melatonin are healthy skin, a normalising effect on other hormones, sleep induction, all good stuff!

your pineal gland produces melatonin naturally when light levels drop.

It's also one of the few anti-oxidants to cross the blood brain barrier, giving free radical protection to your brain. ( I think Alpha-Lipoic-Acid also crosses the blood brain barrier??)

 

[elguapo]

If the effects of melatonin are only positive, then why is it banned in the UK? (Unless I misunderstood that part.)

This thread interests me in particular because I use melatonin like every night, and I am thinning all over my head, almost like FPB, though admittedly more on top. Melatonin is the only think I might attribute it to. It's the only "medication" I was ever taking, until I got on propecia.

Thanks.

 

[Bryan]

It has a depot effect in the stratum corneum and is slowly going into the bloodstream.

I don't know if it really has much of a depot effect (where did you hear that, Bis?), but it was certainly absorbed to some extent from topical application in that study! Here's the full paragraph about that:

"Melatonin was resorbed by scalp skin and led to plasma levels of between 35 and 50 pg/mL, which were significantly higher than in the placebo group with constant levels of 5-10 pg/mL. There was a high inter- and intraindividual variability of melatonin levels in both the melatonin and the placebo group, although melatonin levels in the treatment group did not exceed the physiological night peak of 250 pg/mL."

It's fairly obvious now why they had their subjects use the melatonin topical in the evening! :wink:

Bryan

 

[mvpsoft]

I've been taking melatonin orally for years, and it has done nothing for my hair loss. I have no idea if a topical application would work, but I'm convinced taken orally it is about as effective as saw palmetto is.

 

[Bryan]

I've been taking melatonin orally for years, and it has done nothing for my hair loss.

Ummm....to be perfectly fair, how do you really KNOW that it's done nothing for your hair loss? Isn't that a little like saying, "I've been taking finasteride for the last 10 years, and it's done nothing for my hair. It's exactly the same as it was 10 years ago."??

But in all seriousness, the question still remains whether or not flooding your scalp locally with large amounts might produce some added benefit. Just like how swallowing GLA is almost certainly not going to be effective as a 5a-reductase inhibitor at any dose you're able to choke-down, but applying it TOPICALLY might very well work...

Bryan

 

[Armando Jose]

Melatonin accumulate in stratum corneum

Skin Pharmacol 1997;10(5-6):298-302


Daytime serum levels of melatonin after topical application onto the human skin.

Bangha E, Lauth D, Kistler GS, Elsner P
Department of Dermatology, University of Zurich, Switzerland.

The hormone melatonin is produced in the pineal gland and secreted into the blood in a circadian rhythm. Due to its antioxidative and immunomodulatory effects it might play a role as a topical drug in dermatology. In this study we investigated the penetration kinetics of melatonin applied to the skin of 6 healthy volunteers aged 26-34 years (M/F = 2/4). First the individual physiologic daytime melatonin serum levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. Then 3 of the participants were treated once topically on their scalp with 20 mg melatonin dissolved in 70% ethanol, while the other 3 individuals received 100 mg. The application was performed at 9.00 a.m., and blood samples were collected repeatedly for a total of 8 h. Physiologic daytime melatonin levels in the 6 individuals were 16.8 +/- 10.0 pg/ml. The 3 individuals treated with 20 mg melatonin displayed peak serum levels of 762, 918 and 3,440 pg/ml, respectively, those treated with 100 mg melatonin showed peak levels of 1,136, 3,360 and 4,230 pg/ml lasting throughout the entire observation period of 8 h. These findings indicate that melatonin might accumulate in the stratum corneum with prolonged release into the blood system from this depot.

PMID: 9449169, UI: 98110749

Best regards
Armando