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Hormonal Treatment for Skin Androgen-Related Disorders

  • Chapter
European Handbook of Dermatological Treatments

Abstract

It is well known that the pilosebaceous unit is an elective androgen target tissue. In some areas of the skin, pilosebaceous units respond to androgens by forming sexual hair follicles, whereas in other areas they respond by forming sebaceous glands. Excessive androgen levels as well as their excessive local action on pilosebaceous units in different areas of the body may lead to different skin androgen-related disorders: hirsutism, acne, and androgenetic alopecia.

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Abbreviations

17β-HSD:

17β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase

3β-HSD:

3β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase

AGA:

Androgenetic alopecia

DHEAS:

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate

DHT:

Dihydrotestosterone

DHT:

Dihydrotestosterone

FPHL:

Female pattern hair loss

MPHL:

Male pattern hair loss

OC:

Oral contraceptives

PCOS:

Polycystic ovarian syndrome

PSA:

Prostate-specific antigen

SHBG:

Sex hormone-binding globulin

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sexual Medicine and Andrology Unit, Department of Experimental and Clinical Biomedical Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Francesco Lotti & Mario Maggi

Authors
  1. Francesco Lotti
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  2. Mario Maggi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesco Lotti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology, Andreas Syggros Hospital University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    Andreas D. Katsambas  & Clio Dessinioti  & 

  2. University of Rome “G. Marconi”, Rome, Italy

    Torello M. Lotti

  3. Centro Studi per la Ricerca Multidisciplinare Rigenerativa (CSRMR), Rome, Italy

    Torello M. Lotti

  4. Unit of Dermatology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Angelo Massimiliano D’Erme

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Lotti, F., Maggi, M. (2015). Hormonal Treatment for Skin Androgen-Related Disorders. In: Katsambas, A.D., Lotti, T.M., Dessinioti, C., D’Erme, A.M. (eds) European Handbook of Dermatological Treatments. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45139-7_142

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45139-7_142

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-45138-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-45139-7

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