Where the hell is Desmond?

[It's2014ComeOnAlready]

Hey Desmond - any interest in trying a PGD2 blocker given the recent news about Kythera and Setipiprant?

[Desmond84]

Hey Desmond - any interest in trying a PGD2 blocker given the recent news about Kythera and Setipiprant?

Hey brother

I was actually just catching up on all these new developments. It's great to see new angles are being tackled. Tbh, I personally don't think PGD2 inhibition will be a powerful enough method to halt hairloss. Although prostaglandins do play a role, it is relatively downstream in the cascade of things that leads to AGA. The further downstream you go, the more things branch off and create other issues making halting hairloss very difficult.

This is why Finasteride is so good at halting hairloss. It's stopping the very FIRST signal that triggers hairloss, DHT.

We already had members try out mast cell stabilisers (cromolyns), Cetrizine (minor but clinically acceptable PGD2 inhibition) and a few others with very little success. There were some anecdotal improvements, but no where near what our Big 3 are capable of doing.

Personally I think CB-03-01 will be the side effect-free solution so many of us have been looking to halt our hairloss permanently, in order to be worry-free or move on to some repair work with a peace of mind knowing fully well, you can keep the remainder of your hair with a simple topical.

Follicept is looking very interesting...these guys are definitely onto something as long as it's carcinogenicity potential is fully tested prior to release. I have to do some reading to see where does IGF come into play with regards to androgens, but I'm sure they know what they're talking about. I'll keep you guys posted if I find anything interesting

[FooFighter]

What about stem cell therapies? How far are we from stem cell therapies? Probably decades, right?

[Kiwi]

What about stem cell therapies? How far are we from stem cell therapies? Probably decades, right?

lol - don't waste des time with questions you can research yourself!!! ;-)

[Desmond84]

What about stem cell therapies? How far are we from stem cell therapies? Probably decades, right?

Tissue engineering is definitely the end game for AGA. The science of it is growing at a rapid exponential rate, making a near-term breakthrough very likely. I personally felt like Dr Lauster's team were holding something back and were being very secretive during their discussions with me at the Hair Congress. Their work is very promising and made me quite hopeful that something of this caliber may be possible in the near future. Dr Jahodas team is also very keen to solve the DP expansion problem which is amazing to say the least.

Btw, the Tsuji lab team and their website no longer exist. Anyone knows whats going on there? Did they get bought up by someone?

[FooFighter]

What about controversies about stem cell therapies and clinical trials? Probably it will need 2 decades to be a normal procedure.

Yes, Tsuji lab no longer exist. Maybe they realise its almost impossible to make fully functional hair follicle.

[karxxx]

What about controversies about stem cell therapies and clinical trials? Probably it will need 2 decades to be a normal procedure.

Yes, Tsuji lab no longer exist. Maybe they realise its almost impossible to make fully functional hair follicle.

The reason there are studies hair cloning impossible?
Where is the hope for us?

[It's2014ComeOnAlready]

Hey brother

I was actually just catching up on all these new developments. It's great to see new angles are being tackled. Tbh, I personally don't think PGD2 inhibition will be a powerful enough method to halt hairloss. Although prostaglandins do play a role, it is relatively downstream in the cascade of things that leads to AGA. The further downstream you go, the more things branch off and create other issues making halting hairloss very difficult.

This is why Finasteride is so good at halting hairloss. It's stopping the very FIRST signal that triggers hairloss, DHT.

We already had members try out mast cell stabilisers (cromolyns), Cetrizine (minor but clinically acceptable PGD2 inhibition) and a few others with very little success. There were some anecdotal improvements, but no where near what our Big 3 are capable of doing.

Personally I think CB-03-01 will be the side effect-free solution so many of us have been looking to halt our hairloss permanently, in order to be worry-free or move on to some repair work with a peace of mind knowing fully well, you can keep the remainder of your hair with a simple topical.

Follicept is looking very interesting...these guys are definitely onto something as long as it's carcinogenicity potential is fully tested prior to release. I have to do some reading to see where does IGF come into play with regards to androgens, but I'm sure they know what they're talking about. I'll keep you guys posted if I find anything interesting

Thanks for the insight! You are definitely considered to be one of the most knowledgable posters here, and I've read a lot of your comments. Highly appreciated!

I agree to certain extent about AGA, but actually, testosterone is the first signal that triggers hair loss. Perhaps blocking a receptor to a protein that is further downstream (and directly involved in hair cycling) is a more elegant solution, rather than reducing a necessary male hormone (DHT). Not sure if you've seen their presentation on this, but it looks to make a lot of sense - http://files.shareholder.com/downloa...0Deck%209FEB15

I'm not a scientist and not qualified to say one way or another. What I do know is that Setipiprant is the only drug in Kythera's pipeline for the future. So either they are really, really stupid and taking a gamble on the future of their company, or they know it will work and get to the heart of the problem. I believe it's the latter. After all, they have been funding Cotsarelis' work on this for the past 2 years, and in doing so, had him further elucidate his claims. Now they are running clinical trials. I think this should be a pretty good indication that they are on to something.

Kythera also strikes me as a very competent company. Their injectable for double-chins had gotten through clinical trials recently and was approved unanimously (17-0) by an FDA panel.

[mlamber5]

Could PGD2 also be the reason that DP cells are being stressed out? Maybe it is through PGDS (which is also DHT/androgen responsive) which starts the process of stressing out the DP cells.

This is just my opinion from doing a whole hell of a lot of reading, but I actually think this could turn out to be a better solution than trying regulate testosterone/DHT. Fin only stops a certain amount of test from being converted into more potent DHT. Both the small amount of remaining DHT and the test are still free to act on androgen receptors. What is exciting is that PGDS is very androgen responsive and is expressed in outer root sheath right below the bulge, where all the stem cells are... which AGA people retain; as well as the sebaceous gland which is also disfigured in AGA. Precisely in this area is where CD200 and CD34+ (the daughter cells from the stem cells that in normal hair go on to create the cells for the "next generation" follicle.) are supposed to be, but are largely missing in AGA. It is also important to note that prostaglandins are lipids (so cell soluble?) and widely known to be signaling proteins as well. Maybe prostaglandin deregulation in AGA susceptible scalp triggered by androgens is what is causing the domino effect on other parts of the environment, and the combination of everything from these wrong signals is what interrupts normal signaling and leads to miniaturization. Maybe removing the "problem" protein PGD2 will allow communication again and viable hair will grow back. I think at the very least setipiprant has a damn good chance to be as effective as fin.

Also, follow me on this logic (although this is just a well educated guess)... maybe fin works well in slowing down AGA because less PGDS can get activated when the hair is supposed to regress and thus produces less PGD2. However, fin does not stop all androgens or even ALL test from being synthesized into DHT so maybe it only takes a small amount of DHT/test (which short of castration always occurs) to signal PGDS at the end of the anagen phase to do major damage to the life of the hair follicle by creating PGD2 during telogen (the regression phase.) Thus, this would imply that actually stopping something much closer to the problem would do much more good than stopping the first signal (If PGD2 is indeed the culprit protein.) I don't know about you guys, im not interested in halting AGA, we have that to a large extent in fin... im more interested in the potential of REVERSING AGA lol.

I know that so many different things have fizzled out in the past so I completely understand skepticism but the science behind PGD2/SET/ is for once really exciting and something most people can actually understand if they read around. Short of hair cloning in the future (which is probably the ultimate solution), I think if anything has a snowballs chance in hell to actually reverse; and not just halt AGA; it is this.

[mlamber5]

Also, I believe kythera is doing a conference call for investors/potential investors who want to call and ask questions on Thursday. There was something about this on the other board with a link. An hour after it ends they will post the podcast of the conference call on their website. So, if anyone has any good questions about SET, Thursday would be a good time to clear your questions up lol.