Patent ID: 8859616

Claim:
A method for stimulating hair growth in a human comprising applying to human skin an effective amount of a 3, 7 or 3 and 7 thia or oxa prostanoic acid compound represented by the formula I wherein hatched lines represent the α configuration, a triangle represents the β configuration and a dotted line represents the presence or absence of a double bond; A and B are independently selected from the group consisting of O, S and CH 2 ; provided that at least one of A or B is S; D represents a covalent bond or CH 2 , O, S or NH; X is CO 2 R, CONR 2 , CH 2 OR, P(O)(OR) 2 , CONRSO 2 R, SONR 2 , tetrazole or triazole; Y is O, halogen or cyano; Z is CH 2 or a covalent bond; R is H or R 2 ; R 1 is H, R 2 , or COR 2 ; and, R 2 is C 1 -C 5 lower alkyl or alkenyl and R 3 is hydrocarbyl or a substituted derivative thereof, wherein the substituents maybe selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 5 alkyl, halogen, CF 3 , CN, NO 2 , NR 2 , CO 2 R and OR in free form or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, in association with a pharmaceutical carrier adapted for topical application to mammalian skin.