Serendipity is a primary ingredient in scientific discovery. Researchers at UCLA, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and the Oregon Health and Sciences University recently experienced a eureka moment of their own. While investigating the effects of a stress hormone blocker in mice, the researchers unexpectedly found that the chemical caused hair re-growth. If the chemical has a similar effect in humans, it could mean a cure for baldness.
In the study, published in this month’s issue of the online journal PLoS ONE, researchers developed a peptide molecule called astressin-B. This peptide blocks receptors for the stress hormone corticotrophin-releasing factor, or CRF. Mice that are genetically engineered to express higher-than-normal levels of CRF exhibit symptoms of chronic stress, such as changes to behaviour and the immune system, as well as baldness on their backs.
The researchers injected astressin-B into these mutant mice, in hopes of evaluating the gastrointestinal effects of blocking CRF. However, when they revisited the animals three months later, they found that the previously bald mice were nearly indistinguishable from the hairy control group.
The receptor blocker was also administered to young mutant mice that had not yet lost their hair. Four months after injection, the mice lost much less hair than the untreated mice did.
It is unclear whether astressin-B would have the same effect in humans, or whether it would be effective in baldness that is not related to stress. It is also unclear how a declining prevalence of comb-overs would impact society.
If the chemical does work in humans, it could have a huge market, appealing to those who have lost their hair, as well as anyone afraid of losing it. An estimated 33 million men have pattern baldness in the United States alone. Add to that number all the women with thinning hair and patients on chemotherapy, and there is a huge potential market. One hair loss prevention drug, called Propecia — which itself was serendipitously discovered as an alternate use for prostate drug Proscar — is reported to sell over a million prescriptions annually.
It’s not coincidental that a large number of accidental discoveries find solutions for problems that aren’t at the top of most research agendas. Investigative funding used to research treatments for those “less serious” conditions is not always readily available, but investors are happy to make a sure bet when one pops up. After all, unexpected experimental results have given the world LSD, which was discovered while searching for medical uses of the ergot fungus. What’s more, Silly Putty was a byproduct of attempts to create synthetic rubber during World War II, while Viagra was originally tested as a cure for hypertension.
Once the apple of knowledge lands on your head, it’s hard to resist abandoning the original goal — at least temporarily — in favour of something that works.
This latest eureka moment also raises the question of whether there are less obvious side effects of other drugs that we have missed, because no one thought to study them. Can Prozac make you a better dancer? Does OxyContin give you whiter teeth? Perhaps the next cures for the plagues of humanity will be revealed when scientists take the occasional sideways glance at the results they were not looking for.
