Androgenetic Alopecia as a Marker of Metabolic Syndrome

Background: Alopecia induced by androgens in genetically predisposed individuals is termed as Androgenetic alopecia (AGA). There is proof appearance the relationship between Androgenetic alopecia and metabolic condition.

Objective: To determine frequency of metabolic syndrome in Androgenetic alopecia as a biomarker of disease in adult male patients.

Materials and methods: It was a Cross Sectional Study conducted at the Department of Dermatology, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Hospital, Jamshoro/Hyderabad.

Total 178 diagnosed male patients of Androgenetic alopecia were included. The grading of male pattern Androgenetic alopecia was done according to modified Norwood-Hamilton classification. Norwood-Hamilton Stage I-III were regarded to be mild to moderate and Stage IV and higher were regarded as severe. Vein was engorged by a tourniquet applied above the cubital fossa. Blood glucose levels were estimated. The level of triglycerides was determined. HDL-Cholesterol was estimated by a pre­cipitant method. Descriptive statistics were calculated using SPSS. Chi square tests were applied to determine the relationship of independent variables with metabolic syndrome.

Results: The overall mean age of the patients was 39.08±10.14 years. The mean waist circumference, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and fasting blood glucose were 94.71±12.30 cm, 133.83±13.27 mg/dl, 48.10±7.89 mg/dl,102.94±17.67 mmHg, 76.88±8.56 mmHg, and 93.06±9.78 mg/dl respectively. A total of 10.1% of the patients were found to have metabolic syndrome. There was a significant association between metabolic syndrome and age and family income.

Conclusion: Metabolic syndrome was observed in 10.1% of the patients and this was more commonly found in: the age group >40 years, married individuals, low socioeconomic status individuals, and illiterate individuals.