Early-onset Male Androgenetic Alopecia and Metabolic Syndrome: Are They Associated?

Abstract

Abstract Aims and objectives: To study the pattern of early-onset male androgenetic alopecia (AGA) and its association with metabolic syndrome (MetS). Study design: A case–control study was conducted in the tertiary care center, Department of Dermatology, from year 2012 to 2014. Materials and methods: A total number of 100 patients, 50 male patients with early-onset AGA cases and 50 age-matched controls, were enrolled. The Norwood–Hamilton classification was used to assess the grade of AGA. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. Blood pressure, blood glucose, and lipid parameters along with waist circumference were assessed in all the study participants. Statistical analysis was done by using descriptive and inferential statistics using chi-square test and Z test for difference between two means. The statistical software used in the analysis was Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 17.0 and Graph Pad Prism 5.0, and the results with (p < 0.05) were considered significant. Results: Most common grades of early-onset male AGA were 38% with grade IV, 26% with grade IIIv (vertex), and 16% with grade III. 50% of the case group with early-onset male AGA and 10% of control group patients had MetS (p < 0.05). As compared with controls, patients with early-onset AGA had a statistically significant mean value for fasting blood sugar level (p-value 0.001), triglyceride level (p-value 0.013), waist circumference (p-value 0.004), systolic blood pressure (p-value 0.006), and diastolic blood pressure (p-value 0.010) respectively. There was no significant association between early-onset male AGA and serum levels of HDL, LDL, VLDL, and cholesterol (p > 0.05). Conclusion: It is inferred from this study that the most common grade of early-onset male AGA was grades IV and III vertex. There also was association of early-onset male AGA with MetS. More prospective studies are required with a large sample size to justify the association between early-onset male AGA and MetS.