Ketoconazole

Ketoconazole is a synthetic drug used to treat skin and fungal infections. It is also sold commercially as an anti dandruff shampoo. It can be found under the brand names Perkhotal and Nizoral.

Nizoral shampoo has been shown to be beneficial in men suffering with alopecia.

• One study in mice indicated that ketoconazole may stimulate hair follicles^[1].
• A 1998 study showed Nizoral 2% worked as well as 2% Minoxidil in men with alopecia. Both increased hair thickness and number of anagen-phase hair follicles.
• "Forty-four men with "mild to moderate dandruff and somewhat oily scalp" used Nizoral A-D Shampoo two or three times a week for six months, and 43 men with the same scalp problems used a dandruff shampoo containing zinc pyrithione just as frequently over the same period of time. Both shampoos had the same percentage (1%) of the active ingredient in them. At the beginning of the study, the researchers looked at the health of the men's hair and scalp. They counted the number of hairs growing on the scalp. They also measured the diameter of the hairs, and how many hairs fell out over a 24-hour period. They took these measurements again one month into the study, then again at three months, and one last time at six months. The researchers found that the men using Nizoral had about an 8% increase in the thickness of their hair. The men using the zinc pyrithione shampoo had no such increase. In fact, their hair decreased in thickness by about 2%. The men who used Nizoral also shed fewer hairs over a 24-hour period than the zinc pyrithione shampoo users did. The Nizoral users shed about 16% fewer hairs, whereas the zinc pyrithione users shed about 6% fewer hairs"^[2].

References Cited

1. Topical Application of Ketoconazole Stimulates Hair Growth in C3H/HeN Mice

2. DERMAdoctor: Nizorl shampoo for hair loss