Enel Health®Atlas
Sign in
Enel Health®Atlas
Browse libraries

Not medical advice. The Atlas is not a substitute for a clinician who can examine you.

5-Alpha-Reductase Isoenzymes & Tissue-Specific DHT

Why DHT is local, and why blocking it has trade-offs

Evidence grade 4 of 5, Strong. Read how the Atlas grades evidence.

The written rationale for this grade is still being prepared.

FDA
Not applicable (physiology)

Reference only. Not medical advice.

This is something to take to a clinician. The Atlas can tell you what is known about 5-alpha-reductase isoenzymes & tissue-specific dht in general. It cannot tell you what is happening in your body, and the difference matters most for exactly the symptoms that bring people to this page.

5-alpha-reductase converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), an androgen ~3-5x more potent at the androgen receptor. There are two main isoenzymes: type 1 (skin, liver) and type 2 (prostate, hair follicles, genital tissue). DHT is largely a tissue-local hormone, it drives genital development, prostate growth, body/facial hair, and male-pattern hair loss. Inhibiting it (finasteride blocks type 2; dutasteride blocks both) treats hair loss and benign prostatic hyperplasia but can reduce libido and, in some men, cause persistent sexual side effects.

The enzyme behind hair loss, prostate growth, and the most potent androgen.

What it is invoked to explain

Claims this idea is used to support. Whether it supports them is the rest of the entry.

  • Explains hair loss, BPH, and 5-AR-inhibitor trade-offs

How it works

5-alpha-reductase irreversibly converts testosterone to DHT locally in target tissues. Because DHT binds the androgen receptor more tightly and dissociates more slowly, it amplifies androgen signaling in skin, prostate, and hair follicles. Blocking the enzyme lowers DHT (helping hair and prostate) but raises the testosterone available for aromatization to estradiol and can blunt libido, the basis of post-finasteride concerns.

What people get wrong

  • Often saidDHT is just 'bad testosterone' to be minimized

    ActuallyDHT is essential for male sexual development and function; it is also the driver of pattern hair loss and prostate growth. Blocking it has real benefits and real trade-offs, including possible persistent sexual effects.

Who profits, and who pushes back

Nobody is named here yet, because we have not done that work on this entry. Read that as unfinished. Somebody almost certainly sells this, and somebody almost certainly disputes it. Assume both until we have checked.

At a glance

Product
Testosterone -> DHT (5alpha-reductase)
Potency
DHT ~3-5x androgen-receptor affinity
Type 1 / Type 2
Skin-liver / prostate-hair-genital

What this entry does not yet cover

What follows is unfinished work on our side, not a finding about 5-Alpha-Reductase Isoenzymes & Tissue-Specific DHT. A short entry is not a safe entry.

  • Timeline. We have not built the dated record of research and regulatory events.
  • Cost and market. We have not documented what it sells for or who sells it.
  • Supply chain. We have not mapped where it is made.
  • Who uses it. We have not documented the user groups.
  • What could change. No forward-looking summary yet.
  • How it compares. We have not set it against the alternatives.
  • Children and teenagers. We have not checked what is known about younger people.
  • What can go wrong. We have not written the risk line for this one. Read the safety section below rather than treating its absence as reassurance.
  • Where we land. We have not taken a position on this yet.

Sources

No sources recorded for this entry yet. Nothing on this page can be checked against a citation until that changes, so treat it as a summary awaiting its evidence.