Research Article Promotive Effect of Topical Ketoconazole, Minoxidil, and Minoxidil with Tretinoin on Hair Growth in Male Mice Muhsin A. Aldhalimi, 1 Najah R. Hadi, 2 and Fadaa A. Ghafil 2 1 Department of Dermatology, Kufa College of Medicine, Kufa, Iraq 2 Department of Pharmacology and erapeutics, Kufa College of Medicine, Kufa, Iraq Correspondence should be addressed to Najah R. Hadi; drnajahhadi@yahoo.com Received 2 December 2013; Accepted 23 January 2014; Published 9 March 2014 Academic Editors: R. Turmond, R. Villalobos-Molina, and S.-N. Wu Copyright © 2014 Muhsin A. Aldhalimi et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Recently topical use of 2% Ketoconazole solution has been reported to have a therapeutic efect on androgenic alopecia. Minoxidil is a vasodilatory medication used primarily as antihypertensive drug. It was discovered to have the side efect of hair growth and reversing baldness. Tretinoin is commonly used topically for acne treatment and in the treatment of photoaging. It is used by some as hair loss treatment. Objective. To compare the stimulatory efect of Ketoconazole, Minoxidil, and Minoxidil with Tretinoin on hair growth in a mouse model. Materials and Methods. Coat hairs on the dorsal skin of seven weeks old male mice were gently clipped and then stained by using commercial dye. Tese mice were divided into four groups each of fve treated with topical application of ethanol 95%, Ketoconazole solution 2%, Minoxidil solution 5%, and Minoxidil with Tretinoin solution 0.1%, respectively. Te drugs were applied once daily for three weeks, the clipped area was photographed, and the ratio of regrown coat area was calculated. Results. Te results demonstrated that Ketoconazole, Minoxidil, and Minoxidil with Tretinoin had a signifcant stimulatory efect on hair growth compared with the control group and Minoxidil was the most efective drug among them. 1. Introduction Androgenic alopecia is a partial or complete loss of hair that occurs in a progressive pattern in genetically predisposed individuals [1]. A variety of genetic and environmental factors likely play a role in androgenic alopecia, and most of con- tributing factors remain unknown. Te age at onset of androgenic alopecia difers but occurs usually in mid-twenties. Te prevalence and severity of androgenic alopecia increase directly with age [2]. Te basis of androgenic alopecia is a progressive decrease in the density of terminal hairs and concurrent increase in density of vellus hairs [3]. In efect, terminal hairs are turned of and are transformed into vellus hairs, and this efect is due to hair follicle miniaturization [4], which is associated with substan- tial reduction in hair diameter. Although the mechanisms of these changes have not been established defnitively, male pat- tern baldness is known to depend on androgens, in particular the dihydrotestosterone DHT [5]. DHT is synthesized from testosterone by 5-reductase enzyme type-1 and type-2, and these enzymes are found on the nuclear membranes [6]. Ketoconazole (KCZ) is an imidazole antifungal agent. Long term use of 2% KCZ was reported to be efective against androgenic alopecia in patients without seborrheic dermatitis and dandruf [7]. Minoxidil is a vasodilatory medication used primarily as antihypertensive drug. Minoxidil is a potassium channel agonist that has the chemical structure of nitric oxide (NO), a blood vessel dilator, and may be a nitric oxide agonist. Tis appears to explain its vasodilatory efect [8] but may also be linked to Minoxidil’s ability to stimulate hair growth and treat hair loss. Tretinoin is the acid form of vitamin A, also known as all transretinoic acid (ATRA), helps normalize hyperkeratiniza- tion, and has demonstrated signifcant anti-infammatory efects. It is used by some as hair loss treatment [9]. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Animals. Te study was conducted on 20 mature male Albino-Webster mice, which were housed in the air-con- ditioned animal house of College of Medicine, University of Hindawi Publishing Corporation ISRN Pharmacology Volume 2014, Article ID 575423, 5 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/575423