Genome-wide scan and fine-mapping linkage study of androgenetic alopecia reveals a locus on chromosome 3q26
Am J Hum Genet. 2008 Mar;82(3):737-43
Androgenetic alopecia (AGA, male pattern baldness) is the most common form of hair loss. The origin of AGA is genetic, with the X chromosome located androgen receptor gene (AR) being the only risk gene identified to date.
We present the results of a genome-wide linkage study of 95 families and linkage fine mapping of the 3q21-q29, 11q14-q25, 18p11-q23, and 19p13-q13 regions in an extended sample of 125 families of German descent.
The locus with strongest evidence for linkage was mapped to 3q26 with a nonparametric linkage (NPL) score of 3.97 (empirical p value = 0.00055).
This is the first step toward the identification of new susceptibility genes in AGA, a process which will provide important insights into the molecular and cellular basis of scalp hair loss.