Nongenotoxicity of minoxidil in murine hair follicles as determined by the nuclear aberration assay

A 1-cm 2 area on the back of CD1 mice was prepared for topical application of minoxidil, N-methyl- N-nitrosourea (MNU), or cyclophosphamide (CY) by clipping or plucking hair from a patch of skin. Plucking stimulates hair follicle cell division while clipping does not. Minoxidil was topically administered for 8 consecutive days. CY or MNU was administered topically once on the eighth day postplucking. The incidence of nuclear aberrations and mitotic figures were measured in hair follicles while frequency of micronuclei and the ratio of RBC PCE were measured in the bone marrow. Results with minoxidil showed no increase in either nuclear aberrations in the hair follicle or micronuclei in the bone marrow. These results suggest that topically applied minoxidil is not genotoxic. In contrast, a dose-dependent effect of MNU on the incidence of nuclear aberrations in the hair follicle was seen. CY induced a dose-dependent increase in the incidence of micronuclei in the bone marrow and in nuclear aberrations in the hair follicle after topical application. Minoxidil applied to clipped mice significantly increased the incidence of mitotic figures above that seen in both the clipped and plucked controls. This suggests that minoxidil is a mitogenic agent in the hair follicle. These findings are consistent with the success of topically applied minoxidil in the treatment of alopecia areata.