Plasma Zinc Levels in Males with Androgenetic Alopecia as Possible Predictors of the Subsequent Conservative Therapy’s Effectiveness

Abstract

Androgenic alopecia (AGA) is the most common type of progressive hair loss in man. The search for reliable predictors of the conservative treatment’s effectiveness is an urgent problem today. Forty-eight patients with AGA, stages I–IV by the Norwood–Hamilton scale, were treated for 4 months with 5% topical minoxidil joints with corrections for trace element and vitamin imbalances. In most cases, the positive therapy’s effect was shown in the parietal but not in the occipital area, whereas that effect was observed in others. The attempts to associate the therapy’s effectiveness with initially defined genetic, hormonal, and metabolic parameters showed the absence of differences between groups with positive and negative outcomes. Among the studied nutrient parameters (Zn, Cu, Mg, Ca, Fe, and Se, as well as vitamins B12, E, D, and folic acid), differences between these groups was shown in zinc content only. The starting point from a zinc plasma level above 10 µmol/L likely provides the success of the subsequent conservative therapy and correlates with an increase in the hair density and diameter in the parietal area. The integral predictive value of the Zn plasma level was assessed as 72.3% (positive predictive value: −88%; and negative predictive value: −55%).

Evaluation of Serum Zinc Level in Patients with Pattern Hair Loss (A Case-Controlled Study)

“…Kondrakhina et al [29] reported that AGA in men with a serum zinc concentration of ≦65.4 μg/dL is more resistant to topical minoxidil and mineral correction than that in those whose serum zinc concentration was above the cutoff.…”

Possible relationship between poor skin disorders prognosis and serum zinc level: A narrative review

“…However, a non-significant relationship was found between the grade of alopecia and zinc level. 36 Gowda involved other non-scarring hair loss problem like telogen effluvium and alopecia areata and detect for other micronutrients, nevertheless, zinc deficiency was seen in 11.76% of participants with MPHL, and no significant difference in other micronutrients was observed between micronutrient levels and androgenetic alopecia. 37…”

“…Kondrakhina et al 36 in his case-controlled study that enrolled males with androgenetic alopecia, studied many nutrient parameters, however, differences were shown in zinc content only. El Esway et al similarly tested males and demonstrated a similar outcome.…”

Cross sectional quality of life assessment in patients with androgenetic alopecia

“…3 The process involves the transformation of terminal hair into vellus hair under the influence of both hormonal and genetic factors. 4 AGA can have psychosocial complications, including depression, low self-esteem altered self-image, and less frequent and enjoyable social engagements. In patients with AGA due to continuous disease progression, quality of life (QOL) gets impaired.…”

“…Established links between androgens and MPHL has led to the term androgentic being used in reference of the condition 3 . The process involves the transformation of terminal hair into vellus hair under the influence of both hormonal and genetic factors 4 …”