Baldness Gene Identified in Russian Families
Finding could lead to treatment for more common form of hair loss, study suggests
By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A joint Russian-American research team has found a genetic mutation that causes an unusual kind of baldness. The discovery may offer a path toward preventing the more routine kind of hair loss, they say.
The gene was found in families in the Volga-Ural region of Russia, said study lead author Evgeny I. Rogaev, who has appointments at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and Moscow State University. Rogaev's title is professor of psychiatry, but he's known for his research on the genetics of common diseases.
The study looked at the genetics of families in which hair growth was abnormally slow in childhood, Rogaev said. "Then they suddenly lose hair and become bald," he said. "You see it in females as well as men. It also affects body hair -- there is almost no body hair in these people."
As reported in the Nov. 10 issue of Science, genetic screening turned up a mutation in a gene designated LIPH. "Very little was known about this gene, and what was known was not related to hair growth," Rogaev said. The gene produces lipase H, an enzyme that is believed to be involved in the regulation of lipids, or fats.
Why the mutation causes baldness is not yet clear, Rogaev said. "We have just identified its molecular pathways and have to work on it," he said. "The enzyme is expressed in hair follicles. The mutation somehow eliminates stem cells in the follicles."
The mutation's role in normal hair loss is also unclear. "We are certainly sure that this enzyme regulates hair growth, but how often this mutation itself is found in the general population we don't know," Rogaev said.
The familial pattern of baldness occurs only when an individual carries two mutated copies of the gene, Rogaev said, although it's possible that it might affect hair growth and loss in people carrying just one copy. The fact that inherited baldness was found in women as well as men of the affected families indicates that the gene plays an important role, he said.
While Rogaev said he doesn't "think this mutation is common," it's possible there are a number of variations of the gene that are found in the general population and may have differing effects on hair loss. "The polymorphisms of this gene are for future study, he said."
And a cure for baldness? Not impossible, Rogaev said. "I think one of the advances in this study is that it predicts very simple molecules might be used in the treatment of hair loss," he said.
Another expert agreed.
"It's too early to tell whether the gene plays a role in ordinary baldness," said Dr. George Cotsarelis, an associate professor of dermatology and director of the hair and scalp clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia.
"The gene itself is found in a small group of people," he noted. "Whether it is relevant to common baldness isn't clear." But the fact that the enzyme is produced by a gene found in normal hair follicles holds open the possibility that it might play a role in everyday baldness, Cotsarelis added.
"I view this as another piece of puzzle," he said. "It certainly is important for the families that have it, and to help us understand hair growth better. Whether it is applicable to normal hair loss just wasn't addressed in this paper."
겨우 2달전에 유전자를 찾았다는 뉴스가 나왔고 그나마도 hairsite 이라던지 hairlosstalk같은 싸이트에서 이슈화 돼지도 않았습니다.
그이후 1월에 한국 신문에서 이런 기사라니,, 더군다나 해외사이트 역시 아무 반응이 없구요.
유전자를 찾았는데 2달후 마지막 임상실험이라...
어디 다른 해외사이트라던지에라도 아니
해외 잡지에라도 나왔으면 신빙성이 1%나마 갈거같네요.
neosil도 4.7%의 머리숱이 늘었고 3.7% 만큼 머리가 굵어졌다는게 엄청나게 인커리징 하다고 나온거였는데 (이정도면 솔직히 미녹이나 이거나 거기서 거기죠 -_-)
이런거 말고 좀 확실하게 한건 안터지나 ㅠㅠ
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> ●빠진 머리 자라게 하는 유전자 발견
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> 러시아뿐만 아니라 전세계에 수많은 사람들이 유전적 요인 혹은 후천적인 환경으로 인한 탈모현상으로 마음고생을 해왔다.
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> 대머리 치료제는 ‘해피드럭’의 영역으로 전세계적으로 개발만 된다면 대히트를 칠 수 있기에 그간 전세계 유수의 제약회사와 과학자들·발명가들이 대머리의 유전적 요인과 치료법에 대해 다각적으로 연구를 해왔다. 하지만 머리카락이 빠지고 다시 자라나는 원인 규명 및 확실한 치료제를 개발해내지는 못했다. 그러나 조만간 러시아에서 마시는 대머리 치료제가 출시될 예정이다.
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> 러시아 과학자들은 빠진 머리카락을 다시 자라게 하는 유전자를 발견하고 이를 활용해 대머리 치료제로 연구. 개발했고 마지막 임상실험을 진행 중이다. 러시아 과학자들은 이 유전자를 이용해 탈모 방지뿐만 아니라 다시금 건강한 모발이 자라나게 하는 경이적인 방법이라고 설명하고 있다. 이 대머리 치료제는 알약 형태가 아닌 마시는 치료제 형태로 출시될 예정이다.
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☞ 본 게시판에서 모발이식 수술 후기는 신고 바랍니다. (삭제 및 탈퇴)
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