Retinoic Acid and Hair Loss in Mice

Hey doctor,

I thought i’d share this article with you: ScienceDaily.

It seems the article is suggesting that mice lacking a certain enzyme, produce an excess of RA which caused alopecia in the mice. A quick search of retinol and retinoic acid on the internet provide many sites linking this to hair loss treatment products. I haven’t had time to actually look at the paper itself but the article seems to suggest that in some individuals (those lacking the enzyme), RA can either accelerate or initiate alopecia. I have read posts you made earlier in regards to RA and minoxidil being paired together suggesting that the former likely did not improve the effectiveness of the later, but this study seems to go further in suggesting that RA could even be detrimental. Furthermore, as RA comes from vitamin A, those individuals that lack the enzyme might benefit from decreasing their daily intake of Vitamin A. Obviously this all conjecture, but i thought it was a pretty curious article. Do you have any thoughts on it?

Thanks so much.

I have posted your email and the link to the article at ScienceDaily for the interest of our readers. Thanks for sending it. I have no opinion on it yet as this is all new to me, but as I have time to research it more I’ll be sure to write about it on the BaldingBlog.