Actions of Dopamine on the Skin and the Skeleton
Nira Ben-Jonathan in Dopamine, 2020
Alopecia refers to loss of hair from part of the head or body. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body [45,48]. Alopecia is an autoimmune skin disease that affects as many as 6.8 million people in the United States, with a lifetime risk of 2.1%. People of all ages, both sexes and all ethnic groups can develop the disease. Alopecia often first appears during childhood and can be different for various individuals. The causes that trigger the immune system to attack healthy hair follicles are not clear but could be internal (virus or bacteria), due to stress, or environmental. Some medications, including chemotherapy, HIV/AIDS, hypothyroidism, and malnutrition (e.g., iron deficiency), can also cause hair loss. The causes of hair loss accompanied by scarring or inflammation include fungal infection, lupus erythematosus, radiation therapy, and sarcoidosis. Diagnosis of hair loss is partly based on the areas affected. Common interventions include medications such as minoxidil and hair transplant surgery.
Alopecia classifications
Pierre Bouhanna, Eric Bouhanna in The Alopecias, 2015
Alopecia classifications allow accurate diagnosis, a targeted therapy and a precise prognosis. The most common types of alopecia are androgenetic alopecia, telogen effluvium, alopecia areata, and cicatricial alopecia. Hair loss can occur through a variety of mechanisms. If hair shafts are defective or traumatized, they can be prone to breakage or premature loss. Intentionally or unintentionally, people may subject their hair follicles to physical trauma that can result in alopecia. Traction alopecia, postoperative pressure-induced alopecia, and trichotillomania are a few examples. The remaining types of alopecia are due to failure of the follicular epithelium. This can be due to inflammation, infection, senescence, hormonal influences, medications, genetics, combinations of these, and other unknown causes.
Central Nervous System
Pat Price, Karol Sikora in Treatment of Cancer, 2020
CSI is accompanied by acute and late toxic effects. Acute toxicity includes nausea and vomiting, requiring anti-emetics, and the exit dose from a spinal x-ray field may produce radiation esophagitis. Myelosuppression is common but rarely requires support or interruption of treatment. Some degree of alopecia is universal. Later consequences are ongoing nausea (especially in teenagers), deafness, loss of intelligence quotient, hormonal deficits, loss of height due to direct and indirect (growth-hormone) effects on bone, second cancers (including thyroid cancers and meningiomas), and cataracts from scattered radiation dose. The principal toxic effects of the chemotherapy are myelosuppression, GI upset, and neurotoxicity. Because of the severe physical and psychological effects caused by the disease and its treatment, young people who develop the condition need extensive support during treatment and for many years following its completion.
Preparation and optimization of aloe ferox gel loaded with Finasteride-Oregano oil nanocubosomes for treatment of alopecia
Published in Drug Delivery, 2022
Khaled M. Hosny, Waleed Y. Rizg, Eman Alfayez, Samar S. Elgebaly, Abdulmohsin J. Alamoudi, Raed I. Felimban, Hossam H. Tayeb, Rayan Y. Mushtaq, Awaji Y. Safhi, Majed Alharbi, Alshaimaa M. Almehmady
Alopecia is a common disorder that results in hair loss in one or more areas of the body. This condition can manifest in a variety of ways depending on the severity and area affected, ranging from isolated or multiple small patches (Alopecia areata) to a diffuse hair loss on the scalp (Alopecia totalis) or on the entire body skin (Alopecia universalis) (Alopecia universalis) (Amin & Sachdeva, 2013; Safavi et al., 1995). Any hair-bearing area could be impacted by Alopecia, but the scalp is the most prominent part. Alopecia affects 2% of population with no perceivable difference between men and women (Lee et al., 2020). Despite the fact that the underlying causes of Alopecia remain an unknown, several studies have suggested that environmental, immunologic, and genetic factors may play a role in its progress (Darwin et al., 2018). Furthermore, the relationship between the microbial population that inhabits the scalp and hair growth abnormalities such as Alopecia areata (AA) has recently been the focus of attention among researchers and clinicians (Constantinou et al., 2021). It has recently been established that the bacteria Propionibacterium acnes is involved in the pathogenesis of AA (Wang et al., 2012).
EthoLeciplex: a new tool for effective cutaneous delivery of minoxidil
Published in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 2022
Mohammed Elmowafy, Khaled Shalaby, Nabil K. Alruwaili, Mohammed H. Elkomy, Ameeduzzafar Zafar, Ghareb M. Soliman, Ayman Salama, Elsaied H. Barakat
Alopecia is a case in which hairs are abnormally lost due to different reasons such as genetic problems, healthy condition, stress and aging [1,2]. It has been considered as a public illness that several people are suffering all over the world [3]. Specifically, androgenic alopecia is a genetic disease manifested by thinning of scalp hair due to androgenic effect. US Food and Drug Administration approved two medications for controlling progressive loss the scalp hair associated with androgenic alopecia; administration of finasteride orally (1 mg/day) and topical application of minoxidil (MX) (2% and 5% solutions) [4]. MX, chemically identified as 2,4-diamino-6-piperidinopyrimidine 3-oxide, mechanism of action is not fully understood but it was reported to prolong the anagen stage by stimulating β-catenin through antiapoptotic effect in the dermal papilla cells of hair follicle [5]. As MX is suffering from low solubility, selecting of appropriate vehicle/carrier is a challenge. Commercially, MX topical solution is available in concentrations of 2% and 5% dissolved in mixture of propylene glycol/water/ethanol (Rogaine®, Pfizer). Though the dissolving mixture is capable of dissolving the required dose of MX, it possesses several drawbacks such as skin dryness, skin burning and eye irritation due to presence of organic solvent [6]. Several approaches have been implemented to improve skin/transfollicular delivery of MX such as microemulsion [7], chitosan nanoparticles [8], poly(lactide-co-glycolide)-grafted hyaluronate nanoparticles [9], lecithin-based microparticles [10] and solid effervescent formulations [11].
Preparation of topical bimatoprost with enhanced skin infiltration and in vivo hair regrowth efficacy in androgenic alopecia
Published in Drug Delivery, 2022
Laxman Subedi, Prashant Pandey, Jung-Hyun Shim, Ki-Taek Kim, Seung-Sik Cho, Kyo-Tan Koo, Beum Joon Kim, Jin Woo Park
Alopecia refers to abnormal hair loss, typically accompanied by a change in the normal hair growth cycle (i.e. shortened anagen phase and prolonged catagen and telogen phases) (Qi & Garza, 2014). A variety of factors are associated with changes in the hair cycle, including hormonal imbalances, aging, autoimmune conditions, medications, nutritional deficiencies, and genetics (Houschyar et al., 2020). Although alopecia does not have severe physical symptoms, it does have significant adverse psychological and social effects (Saceda-Corralo et al., 2018). Therefore, treatment of alopecia is necessary to maintain the well-being of patients. Hair transplants and injection of growth factors and platelet-rich plasma are increasingly being used for alopecia patients, but have poor efficacy and the potential for various complications (Kerure & Patwardhan, 2018; Ro In et al., 2021). Treatments for alopecia aim to normalize the hair follicle size, density, and growth cycle.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Alopecia Areata
- Autoimmunity
- Inflammation
- Androgen
- Hair
- Scar
- Mental Distress
- Pattern Hair Loss
- Telogen Effluvium
- Genetics