Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Institute of Human Genetics, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
PLoS One. 2019 Nov 19;14(11):e0225521. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225521. eCollection 2019.
Male-pattern baldness (MPB) is characterized by a progressive hair loss from the frontal and vertex scalp that affects about 80% of men at the age of 80 years. Epidemiological studies show positive associations between MPB and coronary heart disease (CHD) and CHD related risk factors such as blood pressure (BP), diabetes mellitus (DM) or elevated blood lipid levels. The results however vary with regard to the pattern of hair loss (i.e. moderate, severe, frontal or vertex). Further, no study has investigated for a shared genetic determinant between MPB and CHD as well as CHD related risk factors. Using the longitudinal data from the population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall study we aimed to systematically investigate the association between MPB and incident CHD and CHD risk factors on (i) an epidemiological (N = 1,673 males) and (ii) a genetic (N = 1,357 males) level. The prevalence of any baldness in our study population was 88% (mean age ± SD: 64±7.5 years). Compared to men with 'no baldness', in men with any kind of baldness a slightly increased risk for CHD (Hazard ratio [95% confidence interval (95%CI)] = 1.2 [0.8; 1.9]), a slightly higher extend of coronary artery calcification (CAC) (Beta [95%CI] = 0.2 [-0.1; 0.6]), a moderately increased risk for DM (prevalence ratio [95%CI] = 1.4 [0.9; 2.0]) and higher body mass index (BMI) (Beta [95%CI] = 0.6 [0.00003; 1.2]) seem to be indicated in the adjusted model. In contrast, the MPB genetic risk score did not show any association with CHD or CHD risk factors. Taken together, the results of our study suggest a weak association between MPB and a few CHD risk factors (CAC, DM and BMI) but do not point to MPB as a strong surrogate measure for CHD and CHD risk factors in general.
男性型秃发（MPB）的特征是从前额和头顶头皮逐渐脱发，大约 80%的 80 岁男性会受到影响。流行病学研究表明，MPB 与冠心病（CHD）以及血压（BP）、糖尿病（DM）或血脂水平升高等 CHD 相关危险因素呈正相关。然而，关于脱发模式（即中度、重度、前或顶），结果各不相同。此外，尚无研究调查 MPB 与 CHD 以及 CHD 相关危险因素之间是否存在共同遗传决定因素。本研究使用基于人群的 Heinz Nixdorf 召回研究的纵向数据，旨在系统地研究 MPB 与 CHD 以及 CHD 相关危险因素在（i）流行病学（N=1673 名男性）和（ii）遗传（N=1357 名男性）水平上的相关性。本研究人群中任何类型秃发的患病率为 88%（平均年龄±标准差：64±7.5 岁）。与没有秃发的男性相比，任何类型秃发的男性 CHD 风险略有增加（风险比[95%置信区间（95%CI）]=1.2[0.8;1.9]），冠状动脉钙化（CAC）程度略高（Beta[95%CI]=0.2[-0.1;0.6]），DM 风险中度增加（流行率比[95%CI]=1.4[0.9;2.0]）和 BMI 较高（Beta[95%CI]=0.6[0.00003;1.2]），这些都在调整模型中有所体现。相反，MPB 遗传风险评分与 CHD 或 CHD 危险因素无关。总之，本研究结果表明 MPB 与一些 CHD 危险因素（CAC、DM 和 BMI）之间存在弱相关性，但并不能将 MPB 作为 CHD 和一般 CHD 危险因素的有力替代指标。
