Topical Minoxidil: Hair Growth Agent

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Topical Minoxidil: Hair Growth Agent

Mechanism of Action of Minoxidil

Human hair follicles contain particular enzyme. The name of the enzyme is “minoxidil sulfotransferase”. Minoxidil is converted into “minoxidil sulfate” by this enzyme.

Minoxidil is a pro-drug and it doesn’t have a pharmacological action on hair follicles. Minoxidil doesn’t increase hair thickness.

Minoxidil is converted to its active form, minoxidil sulfate, by this specific enzyme in outer root sheath of hair follicles. Sulfation is an important pathway by this enzyme named minoxidil sulfotransferase.

Minoxidil sulfate is an active form of minoxidil. Minoxidil sulfate elicits a therapeutic response that increases hair thickness.

Efficacy of topical minoxidil for hair loss in men and women depends on the activity of sulfotransferase at the outer root sheath of hair follicles.

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Kuniyoshi YAGYU, MD

General Manager, Ginza HS Clinic (current position) | Director, Ginza HS Clinic (current position) | Graduated from the University of Tokyo, Medical School.
Doctor of Medicine.

The 24th President of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), a Board of Governors of the Asian Association of Hair Restoration Surgeons (AAHRS), a Fellow of the ISHRS, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS).

He has received many awards for his outstanding achievements in hair transplantation, including “Research Award” and “Special Achievement Award” from the ISHRS, “Mediterranean Award”, “Tiberio Award” and “Caesar Award” from the Italian Society for Hair Science and Restoration, and “Hirayama Award” from the Japan Society of Clinical Hair Restoration.

He is a certified registered physician of the Japan Surgical Society, an Honorary Fellow of cardiovascular surgery of the Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery, a Fellow of the Japanese Circulation Society, and a Fellow of the Japanese Respiratory Society.

He served as a director of cardiovascular surgery at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Tokyo, Medical School. He studied at the Hannover Medical School in the Federal Republic of Germany on a scholarship by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Kuniyoshi Yagyu, MD, FISHRS. He served as the President of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery from 2015 to 2016. He is a board member of the Asian Association of Hair Restoration Surgeons. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery and a Winner of the ISHRS Research Award in 2010, and ISHRS Poster Award in 2014. He has authored more than 53 research and clinical publications in books and journals. He had been specialized in cardiac surgery for 22 years. He has been practicing hair transplantation for about 20 years in Tokyo, Japan.