Name Ingredients:
Fluridil – also known as topilutamide (or by the brand name Eucapil) – is a topical medication that can be used to treat both androgenetic hair loss and excess facial hair growth in women (also known as hirsutism). In some circles, it is a popular off-label treatment for androgenetic alopecia. Fluridil was synthesized alongside four other compounds in a study designed to discover a novel topical anti-androgenic compound.
Key insights:
- The in vitro (in cells) evidence suggests that 48 hours of treatment with fluridil can reduce the expression of androgen receptors, however, it was not as effective as other anti-androgens like bicalutamide and hydroxyflutamide. However, fluridil was found to be the best out of all of the anti-androgens assayed at degrading in serum, with none being found in the serum by 36 hours after dosage.
- It’s thought that fluridil acts in the same manner as other anti-androgens because it has a similar structure, however this has not been fully determined.
- There are two clinical studies, one in men and one in women. The study completed in men found that topical fluridil treatment can lead to more growing (anagen) hairs and less non-growing (telogen) hairs. This effect however plateaued after 3 months with no improvement or deterioration occurring after. Fluridil did not appear to affect testosterone levels, and neither fluridil nor its byproduct BP-34 were found to be present in the serum of participants throughout the study. The second study completed in women however did not find any change in growing/non-growing hairs, but they did find that topical fluridil treatment increased hair thickness. These results however could be due to the fact that most of the participants had taken Diane 35, a contraceptive – and also another anti-androgen.
- Fluridil may be suitable for use if you are a male with androgenetic alopecia, want to maintain the current status of hair loss or see short-term improvement and then a plateau, and are comfortable using a product that has very little safety data.
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