Pumpkin seed oil (PSO) has been shown to block the action of 5‐alpha reductase and to have antiandrogenic effects on rats. This randomized, placebo‐controlled, double‐blind study was designed to investigate the efficacy and tolerability of PSO for treatment of hair growth in male patients with mild to moderate androgenetic alopecia (AGA). 76 male patients with AGA received 400 mg of PSO per day or a placebo for 24 weeks. Change over time in scalp hair growth was evaluated by four outcomes: assessment of standardized clinical photographs by a blinded investigator; patient self‐assessment scores; scalp hair thickness; and scalp hair counts. Reports of adverse events were collected throughout the study. After 24 weeks of treatment, self‐rated improvement score and self‐rated satisfaction scores in the PSO‐treated group were higher than in the placebo group (P  =  0.013, 0.003). The PSO‐treated group had more hair after treatment than at baseline, compared to the placebo group (P < 0.001). Mean hair count increases of 40% were observed in PSO‐treated men at 24 weeks, whereas increases of 10% were observed in placebo‐treated men (P < 0.001). Adverse effects were not different in the two groups.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) has 2 conflicting factors: obesity known to be protective against osteoporosis and an inflammation that activates bone resorption. The aim of this study was to evaluate the difference of bone mineral density (BMD) in women with or without MS according to menopausal state. This is a cross-sectional study of 2,265 women (1,234-premenopausal, 931-postmenopausal) aged over 20 years who visited the Health Promotion Center from January 2006 to December 2009. We measured BMD at the lumbar spine and femoral neck. MS was defined according to the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (AHA/NHLBI) criteria. The prevalence of MS was 5.5% in the premenopausal group and 13.5% in the postmenopausal group. In the postmenopausal group, C-reactive protein (CRP) was significantly higher in subjects with MS than those without MS, but it was not in the premenopausal group. In the postmenopausal group, women with MS had a lower BMD at the lumbar spine and femoral neck before or after adjustment. In the premenopausal group, women with MS had a lower BMD at the lumbar spine, but not at the femoral neck. In stepwise linear regression analysis, predictive variables for BMD of the lumbar spine were systolic blood pressure in the premenopausal group and HDL-cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in the postmenopausal group. The predictive variables for BMD of the femoral neck were DBP and waist circumference in the premenopausal group and CRP and DBP in the postmenopausal group. Inflammation might have a more important role in BMD than obesity in the postmenopausal women.

Previous studies have demonstrated that male hypogonadism is associated with a low level of vitamin D. However, no reports have investigated the effects of vitamin D on testosterone levels in Korean men. Our aim was to investigate whether testosterone levels are associated with serum vitamin D levels and whether seasonal variation exists. This cross-sectional study analyzed serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], total testosterone (TT), and free testosterone (FT) in 652 Korean men over 40 years of age who had undergone a comprehensive medical examination. The average age of the subjects was 56.7 ± 7.9 years, and the mean serum 25(OH)D, TT and FT levels were 21.23 ± 7.9 ng ml⁻¹ , 4.70 ± 1.6 ng ml⁻¹ , and 8.12 ± 3.3 pg ml⁻¹ , respectively. In the multiple linear regression model, 25(OH)D showed positive association with TT (β =0.137, P< 0.001) and FT (β =0.103, P= 0.008). 25(OH)D and FT showed similar seasonal or monthly variation after adjustment for age. A vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D < 20 ng ml⁻¹ ] was associated with an increased risk of deficiencies of TT (<2.30 ng ml⁻¹ ) (odds ratio [OR]: 2.65; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.21-5.78, P= 0.014) and FT (<6.50 pg ml⁻¹ ) (OR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.01-2.06 P= 0.048) after adjusting for age, season, body mass index, body composition, chronic disease, smoking, and alcohol use. In conclusion, we demonstrated a positive correlation between 25(OH)D and testosterone, which showed similar seasonal variation in Korean men.

To evaluate associations between handgrip strength (HGS) and dietary nutrients, this study of a representative Korean population of 1553 adults aged ≥60 years (706 men and 847 women) analyzed data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2016). HGS was measured in both hands three times using a digital grip strength dynamometer. Dietary intake data were collected by the 24-h recall method through computer-assisted personal interviews. The study population had a mean age of 70.1 years, body mass index (BMI) of 24.2 kg/m², and HGS of 35.7 kg in men, 21.2 kg in women. Total energy (r = 0.411), protein (r = 0.217), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (r = 0.269), fiber (r = 0.272), and vitamin C (r = 0.098) were positively correlated with HGS. In multivariable regression analysis, PUFA (β = 0.083) and vitamin C (β = 0.003) were positively associated with HGS among women. Fiber (β = 0.071) and vitamin C (β = 0.006) showed a positive association with HGS among men. Community-dwelling older men and women with higher levels of PUFA, fiber, and vitamin C in their diet were more likely to have greater HGS even after adjusting for age, total calorie intake, BMI, chronic diseases and health-related habits.

To investigate the relationship between chronic viral hepatitis B (CVHB) and insulin resistance (IR) in Korean adults. A total of 7880 adults (3851 men, 4029 women) who underwent a comprehensive medical examination were enrolled in this study. Subjects diagnosed with either diabetes mellitus, or any other disorder that could influence their insulin sensitivity, were rejected. Anthropometry, metabolic risk factors, hepatitis B surface antigen, hepatitis B surface antibody, hepatitis B core antibody, fasting plasma glucose and insulin were measured for all subjects. Homeostasis model assessment (HOMA), quantitative insulin check index (QUICKI), and Mf(fm) index were used for determining insulin sensitivity. Each participant was categorized into a negative, recovery, or CVHB group. To compare variables between groups, a t-test and/or one-way analysis of variance were used. Partial correlation coefficients were computed to present the association between insulin resistance and other variables. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess the independent association between CVHB and IR. The mean age of men and women were 48.9 and 48.6 years, respectively. Subjects in the CVHB group had significantly higher waist circumference [(86.0 ± 7.7 cm vs 87.3 ± 7.8 cm, P = 0.004 in men), (78.3 ± 8.6 cm vs 80.5 ± 8.5 cm, P < 0.001 in women)], cystatin C [(0.96 ± 0.15 mg/dL vs 1.02 ± 0.22 mg/dL, P < 0.001 in men), (0.84 ± 0.15 mg/dL vs 0.90 ± 0.16 mg/dL, P < 0.001 in women)], fasting insulin [(5.47 ± 3.38 μU/mL vs 6.12 ± 4.62 μU/mL, P < 0.001 in men), (4.57 ± 2.82 μU/mL vs 5.06 ± 3.10 μU/mL, P < 0.001 in women)] and HOMA index [(1.24 ± 0.86 vs 1.43 ± 1.24, P < 0.001 in men), (1.02 ± 0.76 vs 1.13 ± 0.87, P = 0.033 in women)] compared to control group. The HOMA index revealed a positive correlation with body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.378, P < 0.001), waist circumference (r =0.356, P < 0.001), percent body fat (r = 0.296, P < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (r = 0.202, P < 0.001), total cholesterol (r = 0.134, P < 0.001), triglycerides (r = 0.292, P < 0.001), cystatin C (r = 0.069, P < 0.001) and uric acid (r = 0.142, P < 0.001). The QUICKI index revealed a negative correlation with BMI (r = -0.254, P < 0.001), waist circumference (r = 0-0.243, P < 0.001), percent body fat (r = -0.217, P < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (r = -0.132, P < 0.001), total cholesterol (r = -0.106, P < 0.001), triglycerides (r = -0.205, P < 0.001), cystatin C (r = -0.044, P < 0.001) and uric acid (r = -0.096, P < 0.001). For subjects identified with IR, the odds ratio of an accompanying diagnosis of chronic hepatitis B was 1.534 (95% CI: 1.158-2.031, HOMA index criteria) or 1.566 (95% CI: 1.124-2.182, QUICKI criteria) after adjustment for age, gender, BMI, and amount of alcohol consumption. Our study demonstrates that CVHB is associated with IR. CVHB may need to be monitored for occurrence of IR and diabetes mellitus.