KCL research uncovers bald facts of hair loss
14 October 2008
The findings of the first ever genome-wide association study for male-pattern baldness (also known as androgenic alopecia) were published in ‘Nature Genetics’ this week.
The research provides novel insights into this often distressing condition, which affects around 40 per cent of adult men and women, and may eventually lead to means to predict hair loss, giving people the chance to treat the condition at its early stages.
Professor Tim Spector, Head of the Department of Twin Research, who led the study at King’s, said: “Androgenic alopecia is a highly genetic condition, with heritability estimates of over 80 per cent. Genetic variants in, or in close proximity to, the X chromosome androgen receptor (AR) gene have been previously associated with male-pattern baldness.
“However, since the inheritance pattern of this trait appears to be polygenic, we undertook a two-stage genome-wide association study to look for other genes.”
The genome-wide association study, which included 1125 men assessed for male-pattern baldness, helped investigators identify two genetic regions that substantially increased the risk of this condition. They then tested these findings in an additional 1650 men and confirmed that carrying variants in both these genes increased the risk of baldness seven fold.
Professor Tim Spector said: “Given the feasibility of gene therapy in human follicles, our results may point to an intriguing new potential target for the treatment of hair loss in men and possibly women.”
The findings are the result of a collaborative effort led by Dr Brent Richards and Professor Tim Spector from King’s College London, and Dr Vincent Mooser and his team from GlaxoSmithKline. They worked with researchers from deCODE genetics, Iceland, CHUV University Hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, The Netherlands, and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK.
References
Richards JB et al. Male-pattern baldness susceptibility locus at 20p11. Nature Genetics 2008; doi:10.1038/ng.255 [Epub ahead of print 12 October 2008]