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Updated: Jun 20, 2026

An In Vivo Estrogen Deficiency Mouse Model for Screening Exogenous Estrogen Treatments of Cardiovascular Dysfunction After Menopause
Published on: August 13, 2019
Minoxidil May be a Partial Agonist of Estrogen Receptor Alpha
Reem Elzaghir1, Kailah C Collins1, Alaa Abdulshafi1
1Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, MI, US.
Abstract:
Minoxidil (MX) is a common treatment for androgenetic alopecia (AGA). While there are many proposed mechanisms through which MX may increase hair growth, a clear connection to sex-hormone pathways has yet to be established. With recent evidence suggesting that MX may directly bind to Androgen Receptor (AR) and act as an anti-androgen, we investigated whether MX might also exhibit estrogenic activity. Estrogen-dependent cell lines, tryptophan emission, and computational docking were used to probe the possible Estrogen Receptor α (ERα) agonist activity of MX. Preliminary results suggest MX may be a partial agonist of ERα.
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