Topical DHT therapy promotes hair growth

[haidut]

Despite mentioning it in another post on testosterone (T) treatment for hair loss, I thought that this study deserves its own post, just because its findings are so contradictory to the perennial dogma of "androgenic alopecia" - i.e. that androgens, and especially DHT, cause the male-pattern baldness in males and non-localized hair loss in women. The study used rodents, but the experimental groups included both males and females, which makes the findings that much more interesting. Namely, physiological concentrations (10^-7 mol/L = 100 nM/L) of DHT applied topically on the skin/scalp for just 18 days, can accelerate hair growth! Now, the study did find that 10-fold higher concentrations (10^-6 mol/L = 1 uM/L) of DHT inhibit hair growth, but such concentration are impossible to occur naturally, unless there is an androgen-secreting tumor present or a person is using 50mg+ DHT daily. Also, even with the pharmacological concentrations the inhibition was so small that hair growth was barely statistically different from the control animals that received no treatment. I suspect that the slightly elevated (but nowhere near 1 uM/L) concentrations of DHT that some studies have identified in people with "androgenic alopecia" may very well be adaptive, in response to the elevated estrogen/prolactin/cortisol levels in such people, and in no way prove that DHT is a cause of hair loss. The body, being much smarter than doctors give it credit for, may be simply trying to protect itself from estrogen/cortisol/prolactin by raising DHT levels. Oh, and one last thing. The mice that received topical DHT treatment were NOT castrated. So, the exogenous DHT treatment increased scalp DHT levels way above the physiological levels already present in those mice' scalps. That means even supraphysiological scalp levels of DHT promote hair growth instead of inhibiting it.
I think it is time that medicine owns up to its mistakes (and maybe even fraud?) and we end this charade that has resulted in not only lack of cures for hair loss but also ongoing usage of "chemical castration" drugs like finasteride/dutasteride by tens of millions of men around the world. Predictably, with abysmal results.

Dihydrotestosterone Regulates Hair Growth Through the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway in C57BL/6 Mice and In Vitro Organ Culture

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is the most potent androgen that regulates hair cycling. Hair cycling involves cross-talk between the androgen and Wnt/β-catenin pathways. However, how DHT regulates hair follicle (HF) growth through the Wnt/β-catenin ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"...In our study, we found a similar phenomenon: when the DHT concentration decreased from 10-6 mol/L to 10-7 mol/L, the HFs grew much better than in the presence of higher DHT concentrations. In fact, the results suggest that an appropriate level of DHT is required for normal androgen-sensitive HF growth. Once the DHT concentration decreased from 10-7 mol/L to 10-8 mol/L, the HF growth rate showed no significant difference from that in the control group, which explains why beard growth is weaker in castrated males."

 

[valzim]

I see tons of anti-DHT products on the market. But where can someone purchase DHT cream?

 

[TheBeard]

I see tons of anti-DHT products on the market. But where can someone purchase DHT cream?

Andractim from All Saints Clinics based in Cyprus, but it's very mild.
Or buy DHT powder and mix it in DMSO for a true strength product.

 

[BrianF]

Wouldnt you be risking too high levels of DHT if you used DMSO? The study mentions an optimal level.

 

[Mrscorpion360]

Despite mentioning it in another post on testosterone (T) treatment for hair loss, I thought that this study deserves its own post, just because its findings are so contradictory to the perennial dogma of "androgenic alopecia" - i.e. that androgens, and especially DHT, cause the male-pattern baldness in males and non-localized hair loss in women. The study used rodents, but the experimental groups included both males and females, which makes the findings that much more interesting. Namely, physiological concentrations (10^-7 mol/L = 100 nM/L) of DHT applied topically on the skin/scalp for just 18 days, can accelerate hair growth! Now, the study did find that 10-fold higher concentrations (10^-6 mol/L = 1 uM/L) of DHT inhibit hair growth, but such concentration are impossible to occur naturally, unless there is an androgen-secreting tumor present or a person is using 50mg+ DHT daily. Also, even with the pharmacological concentrations the inhibition was so small that hair growth was barely statistically different from the control animals that received no treatment. I suspect that the slightly elevated (but nowhere near 1 uM/L) concentrations of DHT that some studies have identified in people with "androgenic alopecia" may very well be adaptive, in response to the elevated estrogen/prolactin/cortisol levels in such people, and in no way prove that DHT is a cause of hair loss. The body, being much smarter than doctors give it credit for, may be simply trying to protect itself from estrogen/cortisol/prolactin by raising DHT levels.
I think it is time that medicine owns up to its mistakes (and maybe even fraud?) and we end this charade that has resulted in not only lack of cures for hair loss but also ongoing usage of "chemical castration" drugs like finasteride/dutasteride by tens of millions of men around the world. Predictably, with abysmal results.

Dihydrotestosterone Regulates Hair Growth Through the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway in C57BL/6 Mice and In Vitro Organ Culture

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is the most potent androgen that regulates hair cycling. Hair cycling involves cross-talk between the androgen and Wnt/β-catenin pathways. However, how DHT regulates hair follicle (HF) growth through the Wnt/β-catenin ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

"...In our study, we found a similar phenomenon: when the DHT concentration decreased from 10-6 mol/L to 10-7 mol/L, the HFs grew much better than in the presence of higher DHT concentrations. In fact, the results suggest that an appropriate level of DHT is required for normal androgen-sensitive HF growth. Once the DHT concentration decreased from 10-7 mol/L to 10-8 mol/L, the HF growth rate showed no significant difference from that in the control group, which explains why beard growth is weaker in castrated males."

miRNA microarray profiling in patients with androgenic alopecia and the effects of miR-133b on hair growth

here’s this paper, this is from the same people that Made the DHT promotes hair growth paper.

 

[Cameron]

Maybe this in vitamin e could really help with mustache gains!

 

[Cameron]

I think guys like more plates more dates really don’t understand the estrogen cortisol prolactin side of hair loss and only focus on dht present in tissue. It’s like blaming cholesterol for heart disease just because it’s present doesn’t mean evil. In fact it can be there in a protective way, but science wants to profit on drugs to lower androgens to well.... sell more drugs

 

[BetterCallSaul]

Would topical DHT down regulate 5AR activity locally in the scalp and hair follicles?

 

[TheBeard]

Wouldnt you be risking too high levels of DHT if you used DMSO? The study mentions an optimal level.

Risk? What's the risk of too high DHT?

And you can adjust the amount of powder you mix in DMSO knowing that it's a good carrier.

It's not like someone is pointing a gun at your head saying "you mix 50 grams or nothing in there !!"

 

[BrianF]

Risk in the sense that you're risking levels of DHT that are above the optimum level mentioned in the OP's OP.

 

[Dehdly]

I use Enzalutamide and it’s completely halted my hairloss, I maybe lose 5 hairs in shower .. max. Its been 4 years and I haven’t lost any ground.

Solution:
- Enzalutamide powder (4.5%) dissolved in DMSO and then mixed with 95% strength Polish Vodka (Ethanol really).

Application:
- Topically on head every other day, only a preventative measure (it will not grow hair back). Although I do believe it makes PRP treatment growth permanent.

Bloodwork:
- No hepatoxicity and kidney enzymes come back in normal range.
- Only side effect I have noticed is an ever so slight increase in anxiety due to off-target GABAA inhibition. However, in my experience this has been minimal.

Cost:
- £300 a quarter will get you 12g that you just put in the freezer and use 2g a fortnight.

 

[MyUsernameHere]

I use Enzalutamide and it’s completely halted my hairloss, I maybe lose 5 hairs in shower .. max. Its been 4 years and I haven’t lost any ground.

Solution:
- Enzalutamide powder (4.5%) dissolved in DMSO and then mixed with 95% strength Polish Vodka (Ethanol really).

Application:
- Topically on head every other day, only a preventative measure (it will not grow hair back). Although I do believe it makes PRP treatment growth permanent.

Bloodwork:
- No hepatoxicity and kidney enzymes come back in normal range.
- Only side effect I have noticed is an ever so slight increase in anxiety due to off-target GABAA inhibition. However, in my experience this has been minimal.

Cost:
- £300 a quarter will get you 12g that you just put in the freezer and use 2g a fortnight.

That is a f*****g crazy anti-androgen that I experimented with for a short time in 2017. Had a panic attack at work that was so bad I had to go to the toilet and splash myself with cold water to calm down...thankfully no one was around to see it.

Being on that ***t for so long is crazy...but props to you if you can tolerate it. In my opinion there are safer antiandrogens that don't have such dirty GABA effects, if you have to use them, like darolutamide, or the upcoming Kintor products.

All this ***t goes way too systemic in my case so I've stopped using anti-androgens a long time ago.

 

[Jerkboy]

I was in contact with someone who used darolutamide which made him crash similarly to PFS.

 

[TheBeard]

Risk in the sense that you're risking levels of DHT that are above the optimum level mentioned in the OP's OP.

Which was an arbitrary dose and was not related to anything.

 

[Dehdly]

That is a f*****g crazy anti-androgen that I experimented with for a short time in 2017. Had a panic attack at work that was so bad I had to go to the toilet and splash myself with cold water to calm down...thankfully no one was around to see it.

Being on that ***t for so long is crazy...but props to you if you can tolerate it. In my opinion there are safer antiandrogens that don't have such dirty GABA effects, if you have to use them, like darolutamide, or the upcoming Kintor products.

All this ***t goes way too systemic in my case so I've stopped using anti-androgens a long time ago.

Daro is also really expensive and the half life is so low you need to apply it every day, Enzalutamide causes me no side effects so really glad i’ve found my miracle treatment.

 

[MyUsernameHere]

This study was done on mice which are an extremely poor model of the human AGA scalp, as time has shown. Most mice studies are laughable and go something like "we shave the mice, apply some random crap and wow, their hair grew back!" No ***t.

Try applying DHT to a stump-tailed macaque's head and see what happens. Or a balding human's, for that matter (as unethical as that would be).

The study with topical testosterone was actually done on humans but there are numerous pathways and methods of action that T could take when applied topically.
We shouldn't be quick to extend that to DHT.

Let me also state that I am not saying here that DHT is universally bad for hair. It is bad for hair in the context of the ENVIRONMENT of balding AGA hair follicle, which has been proven to have a lack of epitestosterone compared to non-balding follicles. Epitestosterone is normally found everywhere including serum and is a natural anti-androgen typically present in similar amounts as testosterone, except in the AGA follicle where it is severely deficient. That is the reason for the so-called 'sensitivity' to androgens. Mice are not a good model for that.

 

[equipoise]

I'm currently experimenting with topical DHT dissolved in mct oil and ethanol. So far so good, it gives it nice shine and I think less hair falls out.

 

[Riesensackteil]

I'm currently experimenting with topical DHT dissolved in mct oil and ethanol. So far so good, it gives it nice shine and I think less hair falls out.

still shining? Radiating even?

 

[equipoise]

still shining? Radiating even?

Yes it brings all the girls to my yard, the DHT hypnosis is real

 

[mrchibbs]

Let me also state that I am not saying here that DHT is universally bad for hair. It is bad for hair in the context of the ENVIRONMENT of balding AGA hair follicle, which has been proven to have a lack of epitestosterone compared to non-balding follicles. Epitestosterone is normally found everywhere including serum and is a natural anti-androgen typically present in similar amounts as testosterone, except in the AGA follicle where it is severely deficient. That is the reason for the so-called 'sensitivity' to androgens. Mice are not a good model for that.

More recent research is highlighting fundamental antiinflammatory and wound-healing benefits of DHT on all tissues. I find it hard to pinpoint it, or to believe that it would be harmful suddenly on the scalp. Based on my understanding, it is highly unlikely that would be the case. The healthiest young men with full hair have tons of scalp DHT with no issue. Sadly almost the entire scientific literature has focused on one angle and not understanding how the other hormones like cortisol, aldosterone, prolactin, estrogen affect the hair cycle and modulate processes of inflammation and fibrosis.