Androgen control of sebum production in subjects with dihydrotestosterone deficiency and complete androgen insensitivity

[Mew]

The androgen control of sebum production. Studies of subjects with dihydrotestosterone deficiency and complete androgen insensitivity

jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/reprint/76/2/524

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Lists various androgen level comparisons between Finasteride treated men (avg age ~65), 5AR2-deficient pseudohermaphrodites, and men with Androgen Insensitivity.

Finasteride had no effect on sebum/acne production… likely because skin is rife with 5AR1, not 5AR2.

However – men with Androgen Insensitivity had NO sebum/acne production, whereas 5AR2-deficient pseudohermaphrodites and men treated with Finasteride did.

Interesting… also:

Men treated with the 5a-reductase inhibitor, finasteride, did not demonstrate a decrease in sebum production when
studied at 6 months and 1 yr. Finasteride is effective in
inhibiting 5a-reduction in target tissue in vivo, as has been
demonstrated by its ability to produce a male pseudohermaphroditic
rat when administered during gestation at the
time of male sexual differentiation (32).

5a-Reductase azasteroid
inhibitors have been shown to reduce prostate size in
dogs (33-34). In humans, Finasteride has been shown to reduce prostate size in patients with BPH and to lower plasma DHT levels and increase T/DHT ratios in humans and result in the same biochemical profile as subjects with the inherited disease (35). The subjects of this study had
substantial decreases in plasma DHT with lower plasma DHT
levels, and in general more elevated T/DHT ratios than the
male pseudohermaphrodites with inherited 5a-reductase deficiency.

Yet the sebum production scores were not different
from those of male pseudohermaphrodites with inherited
5a-reductase deficiency or normal adult males.