Pharmaceutical Intermediates suppliers What is Minoxidil? Minoxidil is a potassium channel opener that is often associated with increased reflex tachycardia and cardiac output during blood pressure reduction. Selective for vasodilatory effects, found in coronary, gastrointestinal, and cerebrovascular, but not renal and cutaneous. It also reduces or stops hair loss and promotes hair regrowth. Now the general outpatient can get it without a prescription for androgenetic alopecia. Minoxidil, with the chemical name of 6-(1-piperidinyl)-2,4-pyrimidinediamine-3-oxide, is an organic substance with a white or off-white crystalline powder. Clinically, as a potassium channel opener, it can directly relax vascular smooth muscle, has a strong effect of dilating small arteries, reduces peripheral resistance and blood pressure, and has no effect on volume vessels, so it can promote venous return. At the same time, due to the effect of reflex regulation and positive frequency, it can increase cardiac output and heart rate, but does not cause orthostatic hypotension. What is the function of minoxidil? Minoxidil is clinically used as an opener of potassium ion channels, which can directly relax the smooth muscle of blood vessels, has a strong effect of dilating small arteries, can reduce peripheral resistance and blood pressure, and has no effect on volume blood vessels, so Can promote venous return. At the same time, due to the reflex regulating effect and the positive frequency effect, the cardiac output and heart rate can be increased. Clinically, this drug is mainly used for the treatment of severe or refractory hypertension, as well as renal hypertension. Reduced, and this drug and propranolol have a synergistic effect, which can offset the adverse reactions of the two. In addition to oral administration, topical minoxidil can also be used for men with cicatricial alopecia. What is the application of minoxidil? Minoxidil was originally used to control high blood pressure. Later stumbled upon an interesting side effect of reversing or slowing down the balding process. Upjohn has launched a topical solution containing 2% minoxidil for the treatment of baldness and hair loss. The liquid is sold under the name Rogaine in the United States and Canada, and under the name of Regaine in Europe and Asia Pacific, translated as "Luojian" in Taiwan. The 5% solution is for men, while the 2% solution is for women. The products sold in Taiwan containing 5% concentration of minoxidil ingredient hair growth liquid products such as: Rogaine hair growth liquid, germination liquid and so on. The term of patent protection for minoxidil expired on February 11, 1996. The 5% foam formulation of minoxidil is as effective as the liquid formulation. Androgenic alopecia That is seborrheic alopecia. Minoxidil solution for male androgenetic alopecia, 1 mL twice daily, mild to moderate hair growth in 2/3 patients at 3 months and 74% at 12 months Appearance is significantly improved. Minoxidil is also effective for androgenetic alopecia in women. Chemotherapy for hair loss. Many drugs affect the hair growth cycle and cause hair loss. Hair loss is a significant adverse effect of anti-tumor drugs, and minoxidil can alleviate hair loss caused by chemotherapy. Alopecia reata Alopecia areata is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease. A considerable proportion of patients have a tendency to self-heal, but recurrence is common, and the prognosis is poor for those with a long course of disease or extensive hair loss. A number of treatments promote hair growth in alopecia areata, but none have been proven to alter the natural history of alopecia areata, and there are few randomized, controlled clinical studies. Minoxidil has a certain efficacy in the treatment of alopecia areata, and it shows a dose-dependent manner. Mechanism of topical treatment of hair loss Minoxidil is a vasodilator for the treatment of hypertension, but the mechanism of its treatment of hair loss is not mainly the effect of dilating blood vessels. According to experimental studies, in the in vitro culture of hair follicles, adding minoxidil can increase the growth time of the cultured hair follicles. Hair follicle hepatocyte growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor are the two main growth factors of dermal papilla, which play an important role in regulating the growth cycle of hair. Lachger et al reported that minoxidil can up-regulate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA in dermal papilla cells. Therefore, it is believed that minoxidil stimulates and maintains hair follicle growth and prolongs the growth period of hair follicles through the above cytokines, so as to increase the development of miniaturized hair follicles and promote the formation and function of dermal papilla, thereby playing an important role in the treatment of hair loss. Topical treatment of androgenetic alopecia Androgenic alopecia is also known as "seborrheic alopecia," "male baldness," or "premature baldness." It can occur in both men and women. But its clinical manifestations are different. Male-pattern androgenetic alopecia starts from the temples on both sides of the forehead, gradually decreases in an M-shape, and finally falls off mostly or completely. There are also cases where the forehead, temples, and top fall out at the same time, or from the top, but the occipital hair is generally not affected. Androgenetic alopecia in women is mostly thinning of the top hair, while the forehead remains unchanged. Both males and females are more likely to occur in 12-40 years old, is a polygenic inheritance. The pathogenesis of this disease, in addition to genetic factors, is closely related to androgen metabolism. Minoxidil topical treatment of male androgenetic alopecia In 1988, the US FDA approved 2% minoxidil solution for topical treatment of male-pattern androgenetic alopecia. In 2294 male patients aged 18 to 50 years with mild to moderate hair loss at the top, after 12 months of treatment, the minoxidil group had an increase in the number of hairs grown. Later, Trancik et al. applied 5% minoxidil and placebo control in 393 cases of male pattern baldness. After 48 months of treatment, the hair count in the 5% minoxidil group was higher than that in the 2% minoxidil group. 45% higher in the Seoul group, 5 times higher than the placebo group. In 1997, the FDA approved 5% minoxidil solution for use in male pattern baldness. The efficacy of 5% minoxidil topical application by Price et al. in promoting hair growth and increasing hair was higher than that in the placebo group and no treatment group. The efficacy mostly occurred 2-3 months after treatment, but after 96 weeks of drug withdrawal and follow-up for 4 weeks , and hair loss began to appear again, which also shows that the topical treatment of minoxidil is the effect of promoting hair growth. The usage of minoxidil topical treatment for hair loss is: 2 times a day, about 1mL each time. Drop directly on scalp and spread with fingers. Because the curative effect usually appears after 2 months of application, it should be explained to the patient at the beginning of the treatment that they should adhere to the medication, and the treatment should be maintained after the curative effect is manifested. The side effects of external use of minoxidil are mainly irritating reactions, that is, dryness, scaling, itching and redness at the application site. The 5% solution has an incidence of 20%. The occurrence of these side reactions is related to the concentration of propylene glycol. There have also been reports of allergic contact dermatitis or photoallergic contact dermatitis. Another skin side effect is hypertrichosis, which occurs less frequently in men. 5% minoxidil solution, applied twice a day, 1 mL each time, did not cause changes in blood pressure, pulse, or weight. Because according to the study of pharmacokinetics, using 5% minoxidil solution, the average value measured in serum is 1.2ng/mL, which is far lower than the minimum amount of 20.0ng/mL required to cause hemodynamic changes in blood pressure and pulse.Pharmaceutical Intermediates suppliers website:http://www.skhealthbio.com/pharmaceutical-intermediates/