Penn researchers discover possible cause for male baldness

The hair that students tore out and lost during midterm week may not grow back, but current research at Penn points to a possible future cure for genetic baldness.

After four years of studies, researchers at Perelman School of Medicine have found what may be one of the main causes of male pattern baldness — a protein chain called PGD2. This chain blocks a receptor, which can slow or even stop hair growth, according to a Penn Med press release. The study has been published in Science Translational Medicine.

Chair and professor of Dermatology and senior study author George Cotsarelis explained that he and his fellow researchers were able to find this chain by using new technology to simultaneously look at multiple genes. They took tissue from bald and non-bald scalps and put the samples on a gene chip — a device used to measure the presence and relative abundance of certain genes. They found that the chain was abundant in all men who had receding hairlines.

“This is not an approach that was too common for studying skin diseases until recently,” he said, adding that in the past, many researchers focused on the effects of family history in causing skin disease.

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine professor and lead author Luis Garza said this study is unique in that it is one of the first to not focus on testosterone as a contributor to baldness.

He explained that the fascination with testosterone’s relation to hair loss dates back to Aristotle, who noticed that eunuchs never went bald. He said current research supports this — patients who have mutated testosterone receptors are less likely to go bald.

Cotsarelis and Garza also published another study on male pattern baldness last year that didn’t focus on testosterone. They found that a certain kind of cell, called a progenitor cell, is depleted in men experiencing hair recession. It was published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation in 2011.

Male pattern baldness affects eight in ten men under the age of 70. It causes the hair follicles to shrink and to have shorter growth periods.

Cotsarelis and Garza hope this research will lead to an effective treatment for those suffering from male pattern baldness.

The researchers are also optimistic that their findings will help women as well. A BBC article reviewed in 2010 states that up to 75 percent of women over the age of 65 suffer from female pattern baldness.

Cotsarelis said the PGD2 chain was present in female hair follicles from women with baldness. More research needs to be done to determine if the same chain causes baldness in both men and women.

For now, Garza explained that the current research needs to be reviewed. If other labs confirm the data, the team will formulate drug treatments to test on mice, and then, on men.

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