I know that supposedly balding guys have the same serum DHT levels as non baldin

But how about scalp DHT levels. Does anyone know?

I’m totally pulling this out of my a** and I might be wrong.

But I think I’ve read that scalp DHT itself is indeed elevated over normal levels in balding skin.

» I’m totally pulling this out of my a** and I might be wrong.
»
» But I think I’ve read that scalp DHT itself is indeed elevated over normal
» levels in balding skin.

that is correct…which is suprising because the genes that are associated with alpha five reductase are not different in balding men and hirsute men, but balding scalp has higher dht…maybe the smaller amounts of receptors in balding skin give it nowhere to bind, or perhaps the enlarged sebaceous glands make more of it or whatever, but that is the way it is.

» » I’m totally pulling this out of my a** and I might be wrong.
» »
» » But I think I’ve read that scalp DHT itself is indeed elevated over
» normal
» » levels in balding skin.
»
»
»
» that is correct…which is suprising because the genes
» that are associated with alpha five reductase are not different in balding
» men and hirsute men, but balding scalp has higher dht…

You mean the transcription level of 5-alpha-reductase is similar for balding and non balding men ?

» » I’m totally pulling this out of my a** and I might be wrong.
» »
» » But I think I’ve read that scalp DHT itself is indeed elevated over
» normal
» » levels in balding skin.
»
»
»
» that is correct…which is suprising because the genes
» that are associated with alpha five reductase are not different in balding
» men and hirsute men, but balding scalp has higher dht…maybe the
» smaller amounts of receptors in balding skin give it nowhere to bind, or
» perhaps the enlarged sebaceous glands make more of it or whatever, but that
» is the way it is.

benji do you have that study that shows smaller amounts of receptors in the balding scalps?

It would make sense but I’d like to read it.

» » » I’m totally pulling this out of my a** and I might be wrong.
» » »
» » » But I think I’ve read that scalp DHT itself is indeed elevated over
» » normal
» » » levels in balding skin.
» »
» »
» »
» » that is correct…which is suprising because the genes
» » that are associated with alpha five reductase are not different in
» balding
» » men and hirsute men, but balding scalp has higher dht…maybe the
» » smaller amounts of receptors in balding skin give it nowhere to bind,
» or
» » perhaps the enlarged sebaceous glands make more of it or whatever, but
» that
» » is the way it is.
»
» benji do you have that study that shows smaller amounts of receptors in
» the balding scalps?
»
» It would make sense but I’d like to read it.

bump

» » I’m totally pulling this out of my a** and I might be wrong.
» »
» » But I think I’ve read that scalp DHT itself is indeed elevated over
» normal
» » levels in balding skin.
»
»
»
» that is correct…which is suprising because the genes
» that are associated with alpha five reductase are not different in balding
» men and hirsute men, but balding scalp has higher dht…maybe the
» smaller amounts of receptors in balding skin give it nowhere to bind, or
» perhaps the enlarged sebaceous glands make more of it or whatever, but that
» is the way it is.

btw benji. lets assume its the sebaceous glands that go crazy and produce too much of dht, and I’d say it could be the case (both keto and pto decrease sebum levels in scalp, and both help hair) Should not benzoyl peroxide (The Regimen® - Acne.org) help as well?

I dunno about what BP would do to your scalp DHT.

But I know it would help bleach your hair white every day, that’s for sure.

» I dunno about what BP would do to your scalp DHT.
»
» But I know it would help bleach your hair white every day, that’s for
» sure.

thats just a bonus if you are a white guy like me :slight_smile: white hair -> no apparent thining :slight_smile:

Steroid Sulfatase in the Human Hair Follicle Concentrates in the Dermal Papilla
Rolf Hoffmann, Antal Rot*, Shiro Niiyama and Andreas Billich*

Philipp University, Department of Dermatology, Marburg, Germany
*Novartis Research Institute Vienna, Wien, Austria
Correspondence: Dr Rolf Hoffmann, Department of Dermatology, Philipp University, Deutschhausstrae 9, 35033 Marburg, Germany. Email: rolf.hoffmann@mailer.uni-marburg.de

Received 22 June 2001; Revised 11 July 2001; Accepted 9 August 2001.

Top of pageAbstract
5-dihydrotestosterone is known to play a crucial part in the regulation of hair growth and in the development of androgenetic alopecia. 5-dihydrotestosterone is formed locally within the hair follicle from the systemic precursor testosterone by cutaneous steroid 5-reductase. Moreover, adrenal steroids such as dehydroepiandrosterone are converted to 5-dihydrotestosterone by isolated hair follicles, which may provide an additional source of intrafollicular 5-dihydrotestosterone levels. Elevated urinary dehydroepiandrosterone and serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate have been reported to be present in balding young men. These reports suggest that dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate may act as an important endocrine factor in the development of androgenetic alopecia. Hence the question arises whether the dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate can be metabolized within the hair follicles to yield dehydroepiandrosterone by the microsomal enzyme steroid sulfatase, and where steroid sulfatase might be localized. We therefore performed immunostaining for steroid sulfatase on human scalp biopsies as well as analysis of steroid sulfatase enzyme activity in defined compartments of human beard and occipital hair follicles ex vivo. Using both methods steroid sulfatase was primarily detected in the dermal papilla. Steroid sulfatase activity was inhibited by estrone-3-O-sulfamate, a specific inhibitor of steroid sulfatase, in a concentration-dependent way. Furthermore, we show that dermal papillae are able to utilize dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate to produce 5-dihydrotestosterone, which lends further support to the hypothesis that dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate contributes to androgenetic alopecia and that steroid sulfatase inhibitors could be novel drugs to treat androgen-dependent disorders of the hair follicle such as androgenetic alopecia or hirsutism.

Steroid sulfatase inhibitors.Nussbaumer P, Billich A.
Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Vienna, Brunner Strasse 59, A-1235 Vienna, Austria. peter.nussbaumer@pharma.novartis.com

Steroid sulfatase (STS) regulates the local production of estrogens and androgens from systemic precursors in several tissues. The enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of the sulfate esters of 3-hydroxy steroids, which are inactive transport or precursor forms of the active 3-hydroxy steroids. STS inhibitors are expected to block the local production and, consequently, to reduce the local levels of the hormones. Therefore, they are considered as potential new therapeutic agents for the treatment of estrogen- and androgen-dependent disorders. Indications range from cancers of the breast, endometrium and prostate to androgenetic alopecia and acne. In this review, we give a comprehensive summary of the current knowledge and problems in the field of medicinal chemistry of STS inhibitors. The various types of inhibitors are presented and their structure-activity relationships are discussed. In addition to potent arylsulfamate-based, irreversible inhibitors, novel types of reversible inhibitors were recently discovered. The recent publication of the X-ray structure of STS will further boost research activities on this attractive target. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Med Res Rev, 24, No. 4, 529-576, 2004

PMID: 15170594 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=com.microsoft%3A*&q=benzoyl+peroxide+steroid+sulfatase+inhibitor