| Author | Message | ||
     frank smith |
In the last few months I've run across the word isoenzyme in articles about hair loss. In the June Scientific American the word is tossed around as if everyone knew its meaning. I understand the concept of the enzyme 5-alpha reductase converting circulating testosterone into DHT. Is isoenzyme just a synonym for enzyme or is there an added implication? " | ||
| Tom Hagerty (Admin) |
I see this word used in many nontechnical articles on hair loss. Some writers like to use words like isoenzyme, metabolite, and mesenchyme almost as buzzwords - popularized technicalities that very few people know the exact meaning of. Isoenzyme is an important word now especially since Glaxo may have their drug dutasteride on the market soon. Dutasteride will apparently inhibit the effect of both type I and type II 5-alpha reductase. (Propecia inhibits type II only.) Both of these enzymes are chemically distinct and they can be distinguished in blood analyses. Enzymes that are chemically distinct but act to catalyze the same reaction are called isoenzymes. The reaction that these isoenzymes catalyze is the conversion of testosterone into DHT. DHT is of course the scourge of all bald people and should be relegated to outer space. |
