Androgenic alopecia is associated with less dietary soy, higher blood vanadium and rs1160312 1 polymorphism in Taiwanese communities.

PLoS One. 2013 Dec 30;8(12):e79789. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0079789. eCollection 2013.
Androgenic alopecia is associated with less dietary soy, higher blood vanadium and rs1160312 1 polymorphism in Taiwanese communities.
Lai CH1, Chu NF2, Chang CW3, Wang SL4, Yang HC5, Chu CM1, Chang CT1, Lin MH1, Chien WC1, Su SL1, Chou YC1, Chen KH3, Wang WM6, Liou SH7.

BACKGROUND:
Although the genetic basis of androgenic alopecia has been clearly established, little is known about its non-genetic causes, such as environmental and lifestyle factors.
OBJECTIVE:
This study investigated blood and urine heavy metals concentrations, environmental exposure factors, personal behaviors, dietary intakes and the genotypes of related susceptibility genes in patients with androgenic alopecia (AGA).
DESIGN:
Age, AGA level, residence area, work hours, sleep patterns, cigarette usage, alcohol consumption, betel nut usage, hair treatments, eating habits, body heavy metals concentrations and rs1998076, rs913063, rs1160312 and rs201571 SNP genotype data were collected from 354 men. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine whether any of the factors displayed odds ratios (ORs) indicating association with moderate to severe AGA (≥ IV). Subsequently, Hosmer-Lemeshow, Nagelkerke R(2) and accuracy tests were conducted to help establish an optimal model.
RESULTS:
Moderate to severe AGA was associated with the AA genotype of rs1160312 (22.50, 95% CI 3.99-126.83), blood vanadium concentration (0.02, 95% CI 0.01-0.04), and regular consumption of soy bean drinks (0.23, 95% CI 0.06-0.85), after adjustment for age. The results were corroborated by the Hosmer-Lemeshow test (P = 0.73), Nagelkerke R(2) (0.59), accuracy test (0.816) and area under the curve (AUC; 0.90, 0.847-0.951) analysis.
CONCLUSIONS:
Blood vanadium and frequent soy bean drink consumption may provide protect effects against AGA. Accordingly, blood vanadium concentrations, the AA genotype of rs1160312 and frequent consumption of soy bean drinks are associated with AGA.

Full study: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3875420/

Wait. I find this very confusing.

This statement..."Blood vanadium and frequent soy bean drink consumption may provide protect effects against AGA."...seems to imply higher levels of soy drink consumption may stave off AGA.

But this statement..."Accordingly, blood vanadium concentrations, the AA genotype of rs1160312 and frequent consumption of soy bean drinks are associated with AGA."...imply that frequent consumption of soy drinks is somehow linked as causitive to AGA.

Maybe something was lost in the translation.

Yeah, I'd agree there was a mistake there. The results showed a negative effect of soy bean drinks. The 1160312 snp had a real strong link, interesting. There were a couple of other studies I saw studying a few different populations of European descent, and that same snp was also very, very predictive, along with the androgen receptor gene. It seems to be more common in European heritages.

Please read the full study, there's a lot of details that are far more interesting than the abstract.

One point that should be mentioned at the very least is the positive effect of vanadium. I have literally checked the literature every few years looking for a link...well it's finally here.

I had some earlier evidence that was more circumstantial of a positive (inverse correlation of MPB with vanadium).

Haha. Yes, "associated" was in reference to being statistically associated, but without indicating the relationship as positive or negative.
So the first statement gave us that context. Lawothelema had been experimenting with Equol the last I'd heard from him, not sure if he still is or not. It comes back to this issue of estrogen receptor beta, which is something I still think we should be exploring.

I went through and did read the entire thing, and there was some interesting stuff in there, even besides the study results. In particular, the effects on sebaceous gland secretions from sleep and gastrointestinal problems.

CS, am I correct that you used to (and may still) recommend vanadium for diabetics?

Yes, absolutely. Both chromium and vanadium are essential trace minerals that allow for optimal glucose metabolism.
Also, magnesium is important as well. These are essential for glucose management.

The literature now more than ever shows that insulin resistance is increased in early onset AGA.

Overall, I think advanced onset is further complicated by iron metabolism and detoxification of heavy metals.
This is where polymorphisms come into the picture.

Then there's gut integrity (there's always a handful of IBS-like AGA sufferers).

I think in the very simplest terms, many diseases of an autoimmune nature are evolved through the substitution of toxins in place of nutrients.

The only exception is when there's iatrogenics at play (dentist or doctor induced harm).

Is it worthwhile getting mineral status tested to look into this? RBC and urine testing is what I've seen suggested. I have found a website to order a Doctor's Data Toxic+Essential Packed RBC test, but not sure I could justify the cost.

Best source of chrome and vanadium:

http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/chrome-vanadium-spanner-5066787.jpg

Haha. I knew I went bald cause I didn't get enough wrench.

interesting, a 86% decrease in AGA for soy drink is a lot. I experienced opposite effect using tempeh food, and a complete loss of libido ?

Hi CS,

Is there a vandium supplement you would recommend? Thanks.

CF wrote:Hi CS,

Is there a vandium supplement you would recommend?  Thanks.

http://www.iherb.com/product-reviews/Olympian-Labs-Inc-Vanadyl-Sulfate-100-Veggie-Caps/11361

This one is in the milligrams.

"We found that frequent soy bean drink consumption is protective against moderate to severe AGA. Soy bean drinks are rich in isoflavones, and the isoflavone metabolite equol displays high levels of antioxidant [38], [39], [40] and estrogen-like activities [38], [41], [42], [43]. There are many reports that isoflavone [44], [45], antioxidants [46] and estrogens [43], [47], [48], [49], [50], [51], [52], [53], [54], [55], [56], [57], [58] are protective against alopecia. The previous reports found that orally administered soymetide-4 (MITL), a soy-derived immunostimulating peptide from soy bean beta-conglycinin alpha' subunit, suppressed the alopecia induced by the anti-cancer drug etoposide [52], [59], [60], [61], [62]. Hypothetically, soy oil compounds may act to modify alopecia susceptibility by modulating estrogen-dependent mechanisms or inflammatory activity. Further studies are needed to explore the connections between isoflavone, equol and AGA"

Interesting stuff.

From the title, abstract and conclusion,

Soy Consumption = Good
Enough and Good Sleep = Good
Vanadium = Bad


"Blood vanadium and frequent consumption of soy bean drinks may provide protective effects."

This sentence is not saying (at least to me) that there is a positive correlation with vanadium, in other words, it is not saying that with more vanadium you get more protection.

WTF?

"AGA and physiological concentrations of heavy metals
In 1978, vanadium was found to be an essential trace element in humans and animals [27]. The necessity of vanadium has been confirmed by the World Health Organization [28]. Most often found in seafood, vanadium is involved in a variety of biological processes, including hematopoiesis, the maintenance of blood pressure, growth promotion, the maintenance of cholesterol levels, and the stimulation of receptors and other enzymes that phosphorylate insulin and regulate its biological activity. In sugar metabolism, vanadium mainly facilitates the entry of glucose into cells as a hypoglycemic agent. Vanadium deficiency can lead to many characteristics, including increased cholesterol, anemia, myocardial weakness and diabetes [28]. Furthermore, studies have shown that hypertension, which is itself closely associated with high cholesterol, and impaired glucose tolerance (or Type II diabetes) are both associated with the development of AGA [4],[29]. Therefore, the role of vanadium in humans requires further investigation. Vanadium deficiency in poultry has been shown to cause incomplete feather coverage or apparent slower feather growth"

"Lastly, we found a significant correlation between blood vanadium concentration and protection against moderate to severe AGA that has not been reported previously"