The effect of topical minoxidil treatment on follicular sulfotransferase enzymatic activity.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Uncontrolled prospective before-and-after study in human subjects
What was done
Enzyme activity of follicular sulfotransferase (which converts minoxidil to active minoxidil sulfate) was measured in plucked hair follicles before and after topical minoxidil application in 120 human subjects, adjusting for within-subject biological variability.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, effect sizes, treatment durations, or specific dosing regimens. It reports qualitatively that sulfotransferase enzymatic system expression was stable over the course of topical minoxidil treatment.
Why it matters
Because baseline follicular sulfotransferase activity predicts therapeutic response to minoxidil, demonstrating that enzyme levels do not significantly change during treatment suggests that baseline response-prediction tests remain valid over time.
Limits
Published as a letter without numerical data, confidence intervals, treatment duration, minoxidil concentration, or patient demographic details reported in the abstract. There was no untreated control group.
Cited by
- supports Topical minoxidil requires conversion into minoxidil sulfate in the scalp by the sulfotransferase enzyme to exert its hair growth stimulating effect.