Hormonal regulation in male androgenetic alopecia—Sex hormones and beyond: Evidence from recent genetic studies

Male‐pattern hair loss, also termed androgenetic alopecia (AGA), is a highly prevalent age‐related condition that is characterized by a distinct pattern of hair loss from the frontotemporal and vertex regions of the scalp. The phenotype is highly heritable and hormone dependent, with androgens being...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental dermatology 2020-09, Vol.29 (9), p.814-827
Main Authors: Heilmann‐Heimbach, Stefanie, Hochfeld, Lara M., Henne, Sabrina K., Nöthen, Markus M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alopecia
Androgen receptors
androgenetic alopecia
Androgens
Baldness
gene identification
Genetic analysis
Genetic diversity
Genome-wide association studies
Genomes
Hair
Hair loss
hormones
male‐pattern baldness
Phenotypes
Risk factors
Scalp
Sex hormones
Signal transduction
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Summary:Male‐pattern hair loss, also termed androgenetic alopecia (AGA), is a highly prevalent age‐related condition that is characterized by a distinct pattern of hair loss from the frontotemporal and vertex regions of the scalp. The phenotype is highly heritable and hormone dependent, with androgens being the recognized critical hormonal factor. Numerous molecular genetic studies have focused on genetic variation in and around the gene that encodes the androgen receptor. More recently, however, the availability of high‐throughput molecular genetic methods, novel methods of data analysis and sufficiently large sample sizes have rendered possible the systematic investigation of the contribution of other components of the androgen receptor pathway or hormonal pathways beyond the androgen receptor signalling pathways. Over the past decade, genome‐wide association studies of increasingly large cohorts have enabled the genome‐wide identification of genetic risk factors for AGA, and yielded unprecedented insights into the underlying pathobiology. The present review discusses some of the most intriguing genetic findings on the relevance of (sex)hormonal signalling in AGA.
ISSN:0906-6705
1600-0625
DOI:10.1111/exd.14130