Minoxidil May be a Partial Agonist of Estrogen Receptor Alpha.

Minoxidil (MX) is a common treatment for androgenetic alopecia (AGA). While there are many proposed mechanisms through which MX may increase hair growth, a clear connection to sex-hormone pathways has yet to be established. With recent evidence suggesting that MX may directly bind to Androgen Receptor (AR) and act as an anti-androgen, we investigated whether MX might also exhibit estrogenic activity. Estrogen-dependent cell lines, tryptophan emission, and computational docking were used to probe the possible Estrogen Receptor α (ERα) agonist activity of MX. Preliminary results suggest MX may be a partial agonist of ERα.