PARADISE REGAINED!!!

Inhibitory activities of Puerariae Flos against testosterone 5α-reductase and its hair growth promotion activities.

Murata K, Noguchi K, Kondo M, Onishi M, Watanabe N, Okamura K, Matsuda H.
 

Crude drugs expected to have an estrogenic effect were screened for their inhibitory activity on testosterone 5α-reductase. Testosterone 5α-reductase is an enzyme catalyzing the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, which possesses high affinity for the androgen receptor. Among the crude drugs tested, we focused on Puerariae Flos (the flowers of Pueraria thomsonii) due to its potent inhibitory activity and suitability for commercial use. The 50% ethanolic extract of Puerariae Flos (PF-ext) showed inhibitory activity of 60.2% at 500 μg/ml against testosterone 5α-reductase. Interestingly, it was more potent than that of Puerariae Radix (roots of Pueraria lobata). PF-ext also showed in vivo anti-androgenic activity using a hair growth assay in testosterone-sensitive male C57Black/6NCrSlc strain mice. We demonstrated saponins, including soyasaponin I and kaikasaponin III, to be active components in PF-ext. In addition, hair growth promotion activity in C3H/He mice at 2 mg/mouse/day of the topical administration of PF-ext was demonstrated. Thus, Puerariae Flos is a promising crude drug for treating androgenic alopecia.

J Nat Med. 2011 Aug 6. [Epub ahead of print]

Why is this cool?

 This may be the paper that leads to the cure to baldness!! Men have dreamed of this for untold millennia! My favorite time of year is winter because it gets cold enough here that I have to wear a hat. While capped, I enjoy looking at my reflection in windows because I look like I have hair. I feel comfortable and confident with the slightest illusion of HAIR!!

 Before we get too far, let's discuss the paper. It says that they tested "crude drugs" ( I don't know exactly what this means) for their ability to inhibit 5-alpha reductase. One of the crude drugs that they tested was the extract of the flowers of Pueraria thomsonii.

They found stellar inhibition and, when tested on mice that were genetically engineered to be bald, they found that there was HAIR GROWTH!! One of the interesting things is that they don't identify the exact compound that inhibits 5-alpha reductase activity, but they have some leads in saponins. More on that when I review the entire paper.

 Often I find myself jumping to what I think is the natural conclusion of an idea and right now that conclusion is the end of "old." When you think of old men, you have several thoughts:

1. Baldness

2. That remaining hair is gray

3. Weathered skin

 Science will have cured baldness! Lotion and lack of outdoor manual labor has done in weathered skin! Normal hair dye has masked grayness! What is the new old? Kevin Bacon. He is 53 years old and is kicking it like he was in Footloose!! Our ideas of masculine old men will have to adjust to the Bacon paradigm!!

SOURCE OF BALDNESS FOUND!!!

Male-pattern baldness susceptibility locus at 20p11.

Richards JB, Yuan X, Geller F, Waterworth D, Bataille V, Glass D, Song K, Waeber G, Vollenweider P, Aben KK, Kiemeney LA, Walters B, Soranzo N, Thorsteinsdottir U, Kong A, Rafnar T, Deloukas P, Sulem P, Stefansson H, Stefansson K, Spector TD, Mooser V.

We conducted a genome-wide association study for androgenic alopecia in 1,125 men and identified a newly associated locus at chromosome 20p11.22, confirmed in three independent cohorts (n = 1,650; OR = 1.60, P = 1.1 x 10(-14) for rs1160312). The one man in seven who harbors risk alleles at both 20p11.22 and AR (encoding the androgen receptor) has a sevenfold-increased odds of androgenic alopecia (OR = 7.12, P = 3.7 x 10(-15)).

Nat Genet. 2008 Nov;40(11):1282-4. Epub 2008 Oct 12.

Why is this cool?

 To me baldness is one of those features of my body that I am constantly aware of. Every time I see a mirror or my reflection, I notice the sparseness of my hair. When engaged in casual conversation, I will touch my scalp and try to quantify how much skin I should feel if I have a full head of hair and then I place myself on a scale ranging from beautiful locks to upside down salad bowl. I usually fall towards salad bowl.

 Today's paper points a stubby finger at a particular locus and screams "PERFIDIOUS!!" What did they do? So, they did a genome wide association of over 1,000 dudes and found locus 20p11.22!! What is a genome wide association? I'm not sure. I need to read the paper to find out. Their big result is "The one man in seven who harbors risk alleles at both 20p11.22 and AR (encoding the androgen receptor) has a sevenfold-increased odds of androgenic alopecia." This means that 14% of men have two copies of both 20p11.22 and AR increasing their risk of male pattern baldness sevenfold. It is interesting is that that abstract does not mention anything about AR prior to the concluding sentence. I wonder what that means.

 Some of you might be wondering why baldness is so important and it is a legitimate question. When you think bald men, immediately you are swamped with Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Stewart, and Michael Clark Duncan. Men who are badasses in every respect, but there is something more important than making these badass men more badass. We need to cure baldness to prevent serious maniacs from annihilating everything we hold dear. The two most unstoppable bald men every are: DARTH VADER!! AND THE EMPEROR!!

 

 These guys destroy planets and choke people just because they can. Their baldness has driven them to madness and even a son's attempts at reconciliation are cast aside in the epic battle against people with full heads of hear.

 

  Did you ever wonder why they choose Endor to park their huge, anatomically correct bald head? It is because Ewoks are just covered in hair and they represent everything that bald men hate: full heads of hair, happiness, and not wearing pants.