Scientists have potentially discovered a new treatment for hereditary-pattern baldness, which is the leading cause of hair loss for both men and women around the globe. This promising lead emerged in 2024.
The journey began with research into a naturally occurring sugar—specifically, the component called deoxyribose found in DNA. While investigating how these sugars support wound healing in mice via topical application, researchers from the University of Sheffield and COMSATS University noticed something interesting: the fur around the treated areas was growing back more quickly than in the untreated group.
Caught by curiosity, the team decided to delve deeper into this phenomenon.
In a study released in June 2024, they worked with male mice experiencing hair loss due to testosterone and shaved the fur off their backs. Researchers applied a small amount of deoxyribose gel to the exposed skin daily. Remarkably, within weeks, thick, long hairs began to reappear in the designated area.
The gel proved to be as effective as minoxidil, a widely known topical treatment for hair loss, commonly referred to by its brand name Rogaine.
As tissue engineer Sheila MacNeil from the University of Sheffield put it, “Our research indicates that a naturally occurring deoxyribose sugar might boost blood supply to hair follicles, fostering hair growth.”
Hereditary-patterned baldness, otherwise known as androgenic alopecia, develops due to genetics, hormonal changes, and aging, and manifests differently in men and women.
This condition affects around 40 percent of the population, yet only two drugs have received FDA approval for treatment.
While minoxidil can help slow hair loss and encourage some regrowth, it doesn’t work for everyone. In cases where minoxidil isn’t effective, male patients might turn to finasteride (brand name Propecia), which is a prescribed oral medication that prevents testosterone from converting into dihydrotestosterone. However, it’s not yet approved for female patients.
Finasteride shows positive results for about 80 to 90 percent of male patients, but it needs to be taken continuously, and there can be unwanted side effects including erectile dysfunction and depression.
MacNeil and her colleagues, including biomaterial researcher Muhammad Anjum from COMSATS, highlighted the difficulty in treating androgenetic alopecia. They produced a biodegradable and non-toxic gel from deoxyribose and tested it on mouse models with male-pattern baldness.
Alongside minoxidil, the mice received either the sugar gel or a combination of both treatments. When compared to those receiving a placebo gel, the mice treated with deoxyribose began to develop new hair follicles.
Both treatments led to impressive hair regrowth, achieving around 80 to 90 percent in the male pattern baldness models. However, combining them didn’t yield significantly better outcomes.
Throughout a 20-day trial, photographs clearly illustrated the differences in recovery.
Researchers are still figuring out why the deoxyribose gel results in thicker and longer hair in mice, but they did observe an increase in blood vessels and skin cells near the treated area.
As the team noted, “A better blood supply to the hair bulb results in larger diameters and more vigorous hair growth.”
If the deoxyribose gel turns out to be effective for humans, it might be used to treat alopecia or support regrowth of hair, lashes, and eyebrows after chemotherapy.
MacNeil mentioned that there is a lack of research in this area, signaling the need for new methods.
The experiments thus far have only involved male mice, but it’s possible that further studies may demonstrate the effectiveness of these natural sugars for female mice with testosterone-related alopecia as well.
“What we’ve done is very much in the early stages,” MacNeil remarked. “But the results are encouraging and deserve more extensive examination.”
The findings were published in Frontiers in Pharmacology.
