A DNA Sugar Gel Sparks Robust Regrowth in a Surprise Hair Loss Breakthrough

A chance observation in 2024 has put an unexpected new idea on the table for hereditary-patterned baldness - the most common cause of hair loss in men and women around the world.

The starting point wasn’t a hair product at all, but a naturally occurring sugar that helps make up DNA: the “deoxyribose” in deoxyribonucleic acid.

While investigating how these sugars support wound healing in mice when applied to the skin, scientists at the University of Sheffield and COMSATS University in Pakistan noticed something else: fur around treated lesions returned sooner than in untreated mice.

That surprise result pushed the team to dig deeper.

Watch the video below for a summary of their research:

In a study published in June 2024, they used male mice with testosterone-driven hair loss and removed the fur from their backs. Each day, researchers spread a small amount of deoxyribose sugar gel over the exposed skin, and within weeks the area showed “robust” regrowth, producing long, thick individual hairs.

The deoxyribose gel performed so well that the researchers found it matched minoxidil - a common topical hair-loss treatment best known by the brand name Rogaine.

“Our research suggests that the answer to treating hair loss might be as simple as using a naturally occurring deoxyribose sugar to boost the blood supply to the hair follicles to encourage hair growth,” said tissue engineer Sheila MacNeil from the University of Sheffield.

Hereditary-patterned baldness, also called androgenic alopecia, is a natural condition driven by genetics, hormone levels, and ageing, and it can look different in males and females.

The condition affects up to 40 percent of the population, yet the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only approved two drugs to treat it so far.

Over-the-counter minoxidil can help slow hair loss and trigger some regrowth, but it doesn’t work for everyone who experiences thinning.

When minoxidil isn’t effective, male patients can turn to finasteride (brand name Propecia) - a prescription oral medicine that blocks the conversion of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. It isn’t yet approved for female patients.

Finasteride can slow hair loss in roughly 80 to 90 percent of male patients, but once started it needs to be taken continuously. It can also be linked to unwanted, sometimes severe side effects, including erectile dysfunction, testicular or breast pain, reduced libido, and depression.

“The treatment of androgenetic alopecia remains challenging,” MacNeil and her colleagues, led by biomaterial researcher Muhammad Anjum from COMSATS, write in their published paper.

Working together, the team created a biodegradable, non-toxic gel made from deoxyribose and applied it to mouse models of male-pattern baldness.

Minoxidil was also trialled on balding mouse models, and some animals were given both the sugar gel and minoxidil as well.

Compared with mice given a gel without any medicine, those treated with a gel containing deoxyribose sugar began forming new hair follicles.

Both minoxidil and the sugar gel produced 80 to 90 percent hair regrowth in mice with male pattern baldness. Using the treatments together, however, didn’t make much additional difference.

Photographs taken at different points during the 20-day trial make the effect clear.

Researchers still don’t know exactly why the deoxyribose gel prompts longer, thicker hair growth in mice, but around the treated area they did observe more blood vessels and skin cells.

“The better the blood supply to the hair bulb, the larger its diameter and the more hair growth,” the researchers write.

If deoxyribose gel also works in humans, it could potentially be used for alopecia treatment or even to stimulate hair, lash, and eyebrow regrowth after chemotherapy.

“This is a badly under-researched area, and hence new approaches are needed,” write the authors.

The current experiments were carried out only in male mice, but future research may find these natural sugars could also help female mice experiencing testosterone-driven alopecia.

“The research we have done is very much early stage,” said MacNeil, “but the results are promising and warrant further investigation.”

The study was published in Frontiers in Pharmacology.

An earlier version of this article was first published in July 2024.