Association of Hypertension and Serum Aldosterone Levels in Male Patients with Androgenetic Alopecia: A Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA), patterned hair loss driven by a genetically determined follicular sensitivity to androgens, has been linked to systemic conditions, although findings remain inconsistent. This study evaluated the association between AGA, blood pressure, and serum aldosterone levels in a hospital-based sample in Saudi Arabia.

METHODS

This hospital-based, single-centre case-control study involved 20 males diagnosed with AGA and 20 age-matched male controls. Blood pressure and serum aldosterone were compared using independent-samples t-tests, Mann-Whitney U-tests for non-normally distributed variables, and multivariable linear regression with AGA status as the main predictor (adjusted for age, body mass index, and smoking).

RESULTS

No significant differences were found between groups in serum aldosterone (t(38) = -0.30, p = 0.766), systolic blood pressure (t(37) = -1.34, p = 0.188), or diastolic blood pressure (t(37) = -1.31, p = 0.180); effect sizes were small and confidence intervals crossed zero. Non-parametric tests and adjusted models yielded the same non-significant results.

CONCLUSION

Our findings do not reveal association between AGA and raised blood pressure or high levels of serum aldosterone. Because of the limited sample size and the absence of renin and aldosterone-to-renin ratio measurement, these findings do not definitively rule out an association. In fact, recent systematic review and meta-analysis reported a significant AGA-hypertension association in men. Larger, adequately powered studies with complete aldosterone-renin profiling are needed to clarify the relationship between AGA and cardiovascular and endocrine health.