Whats this I keep hearing about Dutasteride, a dual 5AR inhibitor?
DHT is produced from testosterone by two 5-alpha reductase isoenzymes, called Type I and Type II. Type I 5AR is much more prominent in the scalp than Type II. However, immunostaining techniques reveal that Type I is abundant in sebaceous glands, while significant Type II is present in the dermal papilla itself. Glaxo Wellcome has created a medication called Avodart (Dutasteride) that inhibits both isoenzymes. It is noteworthy that Dutasteride also appears to inhibit more Type II 5AR than finasteride does. What remains to be seen is whether the incidence of side effects will increase with the dual inhibitor above the level seen with finasteride and whether results will be greater or not.
