5-alpha Reductase - Pharmacology

Pharmacology

5α-reductase inhibitor drugs are used in benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostate cancer, male pattern baldness, and hormone replacement therapy (male to female) for transgendered women. All three isoforms are also produced in the brain, where they serve to create the neurosteroid allopregnanolone (5AR type I) and convert T to DHT(5AR type II)(1). Finasteride inhibits the function of two of the isoenzymes (type II and III), whereas dutasteride inhibits all forms.