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Query: UMLS:C0574769 (Balding)
 33 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Although both men and women throughout history have seen hair as an important aspect of appearance, it is especially important today, in light of the great emphasis on youthfulness. A new interest in preventing baldness has been stimulated recently by the publicity given to certain products now under investigation that have shown an ability to retard or reverse male pattern baldness in certain individuals. Hair loss has many possible causes, such as systemic diseases, infections, toxic agents, and hormone imbalances. Treatment of the underlying disorder alleviates the shedding of hair. Balding may also be a normal physiologic occurrence in women taking oral contraceptives or after parturition and in men with male pattern baldness. The latter can be treated topically with progesterone or minoxidil. Minoxidil has been studied extensively and has been shown to improve balding at the vertex of the scalp, particularly in young men who have only begun to lose hair. Cases of more extensive male pattern baldness and baldness secondary to scarring can be treated effectively with surgical procedures.
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PMID:Hair loss. What causes it and what can be done about it. 265 26

Loss of scalp hair, whether gradual or abrupt, can have devastating effects on a patient's self-image. Restoration of a positive self-image through improved appearance is a primary goal of all cosmetic surgery. Patient selection based on the type of alopecia and the real motivation for surgery is the first step in this metamorphosis.
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PMID:Combined surgical treatment of male pattern alopecia. 401 52

Male pattern baldness is a common, androgen-dependent skin problem in adult men which is not well understood, although androgens are believed to act on the hair follicle via the mesenchyme-derived dermal papilla situated in the middle of the hair follicle bulb. Since dermal papilla cells retain specific characteristics in culture, such as hair-growth promoting ability and appropriate features of the mechanism of androgen action, dermal papilla cells from follicles undergoing androgen-stimulated miniaturization may provide a useful in vitro model system. Therefore, dermal papilla cells have been derived from intermediate follicles from balding and nearly clinically normal sites of men with androgenetic alopecia. Balding dermal papillae were much smaller than non-balding ones and grew much less well under normal growth conditions. Supplementing the medium with human serum, rather than fetal calf serum, increased both the yield of established cultures and the number and health of the dermal papilla cells produced. Non-balding cells also grew faster in human serum. Balding cells retained the normal fibroblastic shape and aggregative behaviour of dermal papilla cells, but always grew less well than non-balding cells. Nearly clinically normal dermal papillae were similar, or slightly smaller, in size to non-balding ones, but their growth resembled balding cells. Since balding dermal papilla cells can be cultured, though with much greater difficulty than nonbalding ones, and exhibit differing growth characteristics to non-balding cells, they merit further investigation which may increase our understanding of, and ability to control, androgenetic alopecia.
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PMID:A comparison of the culture and growth of dermal papilla cells from hair follicles from non-balding and balding (androgenetic alopecia) scalp. 873 66

Some degree of hair loss with aging is inevitable in both men and women. The exact underlying mechanism is not well understood. Although genetic factors have a role in the development of androgenetic alopecia, the outcome in an individual patient cannot be reliably predicted on the basis of family history. Balding tends to begin earlier in men and to develop in well-recognized patterns. Women have more diffuse hair loss that often occurs after menopause. The available treatment options, such as topical minoxidil therapy, hair transplantation, and other surgical techniques, are not very successful. Lessening patients' anxiety about hair loss by reassuring them that they will not go totally bald immediately may be the most effective management.
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PMID:Androgenetic alopecia. Battling a losing proposition. 938 28

Androgens can gradually transform large scalp hair follicles to smaller vellus ones, causing balding. The mechanisms involved are unclear, although androgens are believed to act on the epithelial hair follicle via the mesenchyme-derived dermal papilla. This study investigates whether the levels and type of androgen receptors in primary lines of cultured dermal papilla cells derived from balding scalp hair follicles differ from those of follicles from non-balding scalp. Androgen receptor content was measured by saturation analysis using the non-metabolisable androgen, [3H]mibolerone (0.05-10 nM) in a 9-10 point assay. Pubic dermal fibroblasts and Shionogi cells were examined as positive controls. Repetitive assays of Shionogi cells showed good precision in the levels of androgen receptor content (coefficient of variation = 3.7%). Specific, high affinity, low capacity androgen receptors were detected in dermal papilla cells from both balding and non-balding follicles. Balding cells contained significantly (P < 0.01) greater levels of androgen receptors (Bmax = 0.06 +/- 0.01 fmol/10(4) cells (mean +/- S.E.M.)) than those from non-balding scalp (0.04 +/- 0.001). Competition studies with a range of steroids showed no differences in receptor binding specificity in the two cell types. The higher levels of androgen receptors in cells from balding scalp hair follicles with similar properties to those from non-balding scalp concur with the expectations from their in vivo responses to androgens. This supports the hypothesis that androgens act via the dermal papilla and suggests that cultured dermal papilla cells may offer a model system for studying androgen action in androgenetic alopecia.
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PMID:Balding hair follicle dermal papilla cells contain higher levels of androgen receptors than those from non-balding scalp. 949 34

Male pseudohermaphroditism due to 17 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-3 (17 beta-HSD-3) deficiency and 5 alpha-reductase-2 (5 alpha-RD-2) deficiency provides natural human genetic models to elucidate androgen actions. To date, five 17 beta-HSD isozymes have been cloned that catalyse the oxidoreduction of androstenedione and testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT), oestrone and oestradiol. Mutations in the isozyme 17 beta-HSD-3 gene are responsible for male pseudohermaphroditism due to 17 beta-HSD deficiency. The type 3 isozyme preferentially catalyses the reduction of androstenedione to testosterone and is primarily expressed in the testes. Fourteen mutations in the 17 beta-HSD-3 gene have been identified from different ethnic groups. Affected males with the 17 beta-HSD-3 gene defect have normal wolffian structures but ambiguous external genitalia at birth. Many are raised as girls but virilize at the time of puberty and adopt a male gender role. Some develop gynaecomastia at puberty, which appears to be related to the testosterone/oestradiol ratio. Two 5 alpha-reductase (5 alpha-RD) isozymes, types 1 and 2, have been identified, which convert testosterone to the more potent androgen DHT. Mutations in the 5 alpha-RD-2 gene cause male pseudohermaphroditism, and 31 mutations in the 5 alpha-RD-2 gene have been reported from various ethnic groups. Such individuals also have normal wolffian structure but ambiguous external genitalia at birth and are raised as girls. Virilization occurs at puberty, often with a gender role change. The prostate remains infantile and facial hair is decreased. Balding has not been reported.
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PMID:Natural potent androgens: lessons from human genetic models. 989 63

While the precise incidence of androgenetic alopecia is unknown, it is universally acknowledged to be the most common hair problem in men. Balding is generally associated with ageing; consequently, the desire to prolong a youthful appearance inevitably leads to demands for effective treatments. Further, changing attitudes in modern society have resulted in people becoming concerned about their appearance and less tolerant about conditions that might be alleviated by medical intervention. The importance of hair loss upon quality of life has been underestimated by the medical profession. Clinicians failing to accept hair loss as an important medical problem ignore the real distress suffered by a significant proportion of those affected. New options for treatment that selectively target the metabolic pathways involved in the balding process are showing promise. The first generation of such drugs, Propecia, is now available in some countries and other molecules are currently under development.
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PMID:Androgenetic alopecia in men: the scale of the problem and prospects for treatment. 1034 67

This paper extends the calculation of conditional probabilities from those given by Balding and Nichols to casework situations where a series of possible DNA types are possible. Such situations may occur when a sample is identified containing a mixture of DNA from two or more people or where extra information can be determined about the subpopulation under consideration by analysis of additional samples. Using this approach, the error in the estimated likelihood ratios is expected to reduce as the number of additional individuals typed from the subpopulation increases.
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PMID:Applications and extensions of subpopulation theory: a caseworkers guide. 1050 2

We used a variety of methods to detect known gene conversions in the actin gene families of five angiosperm species, the beta-globin gene families of two primate species, and the Zfx/Zfy gene families of seven mammalian species. Our goal was to devise a working strategy which would allow the analysis of the members of a multigene family in order to determine whether there had been gene conversions between its members, identify the genes involved in the gene conversions, establish the lengths of the converted regions, and determine the polarities of the gene conversions. We show that three phylogenetic methods and the homoplasy test of Maynard Smith and Smith perform relatively poorly on our data sets because the sequences we analyzed had large levels of multiple substitutions. The method of Sawyer, the compatibility method of Jakobsen and Easteal, the partition matrix method of Jakobsen, Wilson, and Easteal, and the co-double method of Balding, Nichols, and Hunt can be used to identify the genes which have been involved in gene conversions. The co-double method is more powerful than other methods but requires orthologous sequences from related species. Compatibility, phylogenetic, and nucleotide substitution distribution statistics methods can be used to identify the location of the converted region(s). Site-by-site compatibility analyses can also be used to identify the direction of the conversion event(s). Combinations of these methods can therefore be used to establish the presence, locations, and polarities of gene conversions between multigene family members.
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PMID:Detecting and characterizing gene conversions between multigene family members. 1056 17

Global changes of scalp hair represent the cumulative end result of discrete changes of individual hair follicle structure and/or function. Monitoring of such changes requires an accurate non-invasive method. The phototrichogram (PTG) appears to be an appropriate choice to do so. However, a known weakness of the method is the lack of detection of less pigmented or thinning hair. Balding scalp of male subjects with androgenetic alopecia (AGA) was analysed with our previously published PTG method and with contrast enhanced (CE-)PTG followed by biopsy and transverse section examination with the light microscope. As compared with PTG, the CE-PTG method significantly improved detection not only of thin but also of thick hair. Equal numbers of thick (diameter > 40 mm) hair were detected with CE-PTG and with histology. CE-PTG was also able to detect the severely miniaturised hair fiber (down to 8 mm diameter) and was comparable to scalp biopsy analysis. The latter could identify hair fibres, which did not reach the scalp surface, a measure that is considered as not clinically significant. All growth stages - anagen, catagen and telogen - as well as the empty follicle stage could clearly be observed with CE-PTG. Staging of the more severely affected hair follicles was not always possible neither with CE-PTG nor histology - even with serial sectioning. The finding of such technological advantages makes the CE-PTG a first choice method for detailed analysis of hair cycling in androgenetic alopecia - a scalp disorder characterised by extreme hair follicle miniaturisation, decreased hair pigmentation and hair thinning.
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PMID:Contrast enhanced phototrichogram (CE-PTG): an improved non-invasive technique for measurement of scalp hair dynamics in androgenetic alopecia--validation study with histology after transverse sectioning of scalp biopsies. 1139 39


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