Is elevated progesterone related to alopecia in men?

I have a 23 year old male patient who developed Alopecia Areata a few months ago.

Hormone Profile is normal except for an elevated Progestreone of 6nmol/L (local ref range < 3), Oestradiol 96pmol/L (40-250) and Testosterone 27(10-33).

Is this of any significance?

Many thanks

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Is elevated progesterone related to alopecia in men?

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Is elevated progesterone related to alopecia in men?
by: Wray

Although no studies using progesterone have been done on men with alopecia areta, judging by the studies on progesterone in general, I can't see it being a problem.

The use of progesterone shows a marked improvement in women with alopecia areta, with substantial hair growth on the head, while the concomitant reduction in androgens cause facial hair to fall out.

Finasteride, a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, has been used with slight improvement on men, but does cause a low grade depression.
http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6904/6/7/

Progesterone and it's derivatives are also 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. Progesterone also reverses mild depression.
http://acogjnl.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/78/1/103
http://www.jle.com/fr/revues/medecine/ejd/e-
docs/00/01/89/4F/article.md?type=text.html
http://acs.confex.com/acs/norm06/techprogram/P27956.HTM
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?
_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TC9-4S6P235-
1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_
acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md
5=ca616a00bde35db82e74e4343dc89c0f
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2652126

Hypertension is strongly associated with androgenetic alopecia. Hypertension is also linked to hyperaldosteronism. Spironolactone, the anti-hypertensive drug, is a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, and has been used in the treatment of AA.

Progesterone competes with the natural ligand aldosterone due to high binding affinity of progesterone to the human mineralocorticoid receptor. An interesting comment from one study was the comparison of AA in men to women with poly cystic ovaries.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14758568

PCO, if not caused by insulin resistance, is certainly greatly influenced by it. By reversing the IR, both insulin and androgen levels fall, allowing the ovaries to function again.

Male AA is associated with insulin resistance: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12223962

One study suggesting AA is a clinical marker for insulin resistance: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?
_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T1B-41CWV8R-
M&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_
acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md
5=336c776c7e022adfd5e9845f27d3f11b

Emory University have been studying progesterone for twenty years and found it to be extremely safe, so much so they have recently completed a study on TBI victims, 71% of which were men. All received IV transfusions of progesterone. The results of the study were remarkable enough to warrant further research:
http://whsc.emory.edu/press_releases2.cfm?
announcement_id_seq=7840 Hope this helps Wray

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Submitted by: Wray

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Comment
Although no studies using progesterone have been done on men with alopecia areta, judging by the studies on progesterone in general, I can't see it being a problem. The use of progesterone shows a marked improvement in women with alopecia areta, with substantial hair growth on the head, while the concomitant reduction in androgens cause facial hair to fall out. Finasteride, a 5-alpha reductase inhibitor, has been used with slight improvement on men, but does cause a low grade depression. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6904/6/7/ Progesterone and it's derivatives are also 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. Progesterone also reverses mild depression. http://acogjnl.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/78/1/103 http://www.jle.com/fr/revues/medecine/ejd/e- docs/00/01/89/4F/article.md?type=text.html http://acs.confex.com/acs/norm06/techprogram/P27956.HTM http://www.sciencedirect.com/science? _ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TC9-4S6P235- 1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_ acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md 5=ca616a00bde35db82e74e4343dc89c0f http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2652126 Hypertension is strongly associated with androgenetic alopecia. Hypertension is also linked to hyperaldosteronism. Spironolactone, the anti-hypertensive drug, is a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist, and has been used in the treatment of AA. Progesterone competes with the natural ligand aldosterone due to high binding affinity of progesterone to the human mineralocorticoid receptor. An interesting comment from one study was the comparison of AA in men to women with poly cystic ovaries. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14758568 PCO, if not caused by insulin resistance, is certainly greatly influenced by it. By reversing the IR, both insulin and androgen levels fall, allowing the ovaries to function again. Male AA is associated with insulin resistance: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12223962 One study suggesting AA is a clinical marker for insulin resistance: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science? _ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T1B-41CWV8R- M&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_ acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md 5=336c776c7e022adfd5e9845f27d3f11b Emory University have been studying progesterone for twenty years and found it to be extremely safe, so much so they have recently completed a study on TBI victims, 71% of which were men. All received IV transfusions of progesterone. The results of the study were remarkable enough to warrant further research: http://whsc.emory.edu/press_releases2.cfm? announcement_id_seq=7840 Hope this helps Wray

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