Patent ID: 8758993

Claim:
A method for predicting the likely response of a human subject to an anti-androgen therapeutic drug for the treatment of androgenic alopecia, comprising the steps of: obtaining a hair follicle sample from the subject, the sample comprising at least one hair follicle; combining the hair follicle sample with the anti-androgen therapeutic drug, a predetermined amount of testosterone, aldo-ketoreductase 1C2 (AKR1C2), and a fluorogenic dye which competes with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) for reaction with AKR1C2, wherein the reaction of the fluorogenic dye with AKR1C2 results in a fluorescent product; incubating the hair follicle sample for a pre-determined time, at a temperature at which AKR1C2 is active; measuring a fluorescence intensity of the hair follicle sample at a wavelength emitted by the fluorescent product; and comparing the fluorescence intensity with a comparison value, wherein a fluorescence intensity greater than the comparison value indicates that the subject is likely to respond to the anti-androgen therapeutic drug.