B2.5 TESTOSTERONE TO EPITESTOSTERONE RATIO IN MALE PATTERN BALDNESS

Woo-Young Sim, Hyo-Jung Bang¹, Bong Chul Chung¹

Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Bioanalysis and Biotransformation Research Center, KIST¹, Seoul, Korea

It is generally accepted that male pattern baldness (MPB) is a direct consequence of both androgenic stimulation and genetic predisposition. Although the pathogenesis of MPB is not well understood, it may be determined by an increase of 5 alpha-reductase. Epitestosterone, a natural epimer of testosterone, is a physiological constituent of body fluids in many species, including man. It was demonstrated that epitestosterone inhibited the androgenic effect by competition with testosterone.

The level of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), testosterone and epitestosterone in hairs of premature baldness subjects and non-baldness subjects was evaluated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in selected ion monitoring mode. The ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E ratio) and DHT level in vertex hair of premature baldness were higher than the value of non-baldness subjects.  However, the level of androgen in occipital hair of same baldness group was not different. The T/E ratio in hairs from advanced baldness was much higher than that of premature baldness in our previous study.  These findings demonstrated that the T/E ratio might be used as indicator for MPB.