Association Between Androgenetic Alopecia And Atherosclerosis In Young Men

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common type of alopecia in both menand women. It mainly occurs in the20to40-year-old men on clinic. Thedevelopment and occurrence of AGA depends on an interaction of endocrine factorsand genetic predisposition. But the pathogenetic mechanisms of AGA are not yetfully understood. More and more studies suggested that development and occurrenceof AGA might also be associated with the high blood flow resistance, blood stasis,the low scalp vascular density and the reduced angiogenesis of periflooicular. Thehigh blood flow resistance and blood stasis cause endothelial structure and functiondamaged. It is generally accepted that the injury of vascular endothelial structure andfunction is linked to the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis. Therefore,we hypothesis there is a correlation between androgenetic alopecia andatherosclerosis, and the vascular endothelial structure and function disorder may bethe common pathophysiological basis of androgenetic alopecia and atherosclerosis.Previous studies shown that endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) from peripheralblood can promote local vascular angiogenesis, improve endothelial injury restorecapacity and ameliorate endothelial function. EPC is an important biological markerof vascular endothelial function and angiogenesis. Studies indicated that theimpaired endothelial repair capacity induced by decreased number and function ofcirculating EPCs is the significant pathophysiological basis of atherosclerosis. However, up to now, there are no any reports about EPCs and the occurrence ofandrogenetic alopecia. Generally speaking, endothelial dysfunction is close related toandrogenetic alopecia and atherosclerosis, which may be the underling mechanismof the correlation of androgenetic alopecia and atherosclerosis. Reduced number andfunction of circulating endothelial progenitor cells may be one of the vascularbiology pathogenesis in the occurrence and development process of androgenicalopecia.Our study compared the atherosclerosis indicators, such as flow-mediateddilatation, pulse wave velocity and the number and function of endothelialprogenitor cells between the androgenetic alopecia patients and the non-baldphysical examinees by case-control study. We analyzed the correlation betweenandrogenetic alopecia and atherosclerosis, investigated the underlying mechanism ofthe association, which provided a reference for the prevention and researching theprevalence after treatment of AGA of atherosclerotic vascular disease in patientswith androgenetic alopecia.Objectives1. To analysis the association of androgenetic alopecia and atherosclerosis.2. To discuss the possible mechanism of the association between androgeneticalopecia and atherosclerosis.Methods1. We detected blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol(TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-densitylipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), TC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, apolipoprotein A1(ApoA1), apolipoprotein B (ApoB), ApoB/ApoA1, fasting plasma glucose (FPG),high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and other clinical indicators of144cases of young men (18-35years) with androgenetic alopecia(case group) and60cases of non-bald physical examinees(control group). We investigated the association between androgenetic alopecia and atherosclerosis by case-control study.2. We compared flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), pulse wave velocity (PWV)and aorta compliance/arterial compliance (C1/C2) of62cases of young men (18-35years) with androgenetic alopecia(case group) and60cases of non-bald physicalexaminees(control group). We investigated the possible mechanism of theassociation between androgenetic alopecia and atherosclerosis was endothelialdysfunction.3. We detected the number of endothelial progenitor cells in the peripheralblood, migration and adhesion capacity of endothelial progenitor cell after7dayscultured from10young men with androgenetic alopecia(case group) and10non-bald physical examinees(control group) by fluorescence-activated cell sorter,Boyden chamber and adhesion experiments of endothelial cell, respectively. Westudied the possible underlying cellular mechanisms of the association betweenandrogenetic alopecia and atherosclerosis.Results1. Compared with control group, case group had higher BP, BMT, TC,LDL-C,TC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, ApoB and ApoB/ApoA1(P<0.05).2. Compared with control group, case group had lower FMD and significantlyhigher PWV (P <0.05).3. Compared with control group, the number and the migration and adhesion invitro of endothelial progenitor cells are impaired in case group (P<0.05).Conclusions1. There is an association between young male androgenetic alopecia andatherosclerosis.2. Endothelial dysfunction may be the underlying mechanism of the associationbetween young male androgenetic alopecia and atherosclerosis.3. The decline number and function of endothelial progenitor cells may be one of the important mechanisms of the association between young male androgenetic alopeciaand atherosclerosis.