Adult stem cells could hold the key to a common but frustrating condition.

According to the American Hair Loss Association, an estimated 85 percent of American men will have "significantly thinning hair" by the age of 50, and 25 percent of those men will experience some form of hair loss before they even reach age 21. It's known as androgenic alopecia, and currently there is no cure. But now, a team of researchers from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles is working to change that, and they're using stem cells to do it.

The UCLA researchers discovered that the stem cells found in active hair follicles complete a different metabolic process than the stem cells in the rest of the skin. Following the process of turning glucose to pyruvate, hair follicle stem cells either send that pyruvate on to the mitochondria for energy storage, or they transform it to lactate. The researchers decided to see if the same processes occurred in inactive follicles and began experimenting with the lactate production of the cells.

They found that by altering the production of lactate, they could increase or decrease the growth of hair depending on whether the lactate itself was increased or decreased within the hair follicle.

The team then began to research potential drugs to help activate the stem cells and encourage the production of lactate. Two front-runners called RCGD423 and UK5009 have so far showed promise. Though neither drug has been tested on humans yet, researchers are hopeful trials can begin soon.

Dr. Naota Hashimoto of La Quinta, California, believes patients looking to use stem cells to cure their hair loss may not need to wait much longer. According to Hashimoto, another study from the Maitland Clinic in Marylebone, London, is also using stem cells, but in an entirely different way.

"In contrast to the UCLA study where they are using medication to stimulate stem cells, the Maitland Clinic study is actually removing adult stem cells from the patient's own body and implanting them into the scalp to generate hair growth naturally," Hashimoto says.

In the Maitland Clinic study, fat is removed from the patient's abdomen via a cannula, much like with liposuction, and then mixed with the patient's own stem cells before being injected back into the scalp.

"This helps to generate the growth of the hair within the patient's scalp," Hashimoto says, "but because it is using materials extracted from the patient's body, there is no rejection or side effects."

Though the Maitland Clinic study is not complete, testing has already begun on humans, and so far shows signs of success. Researchers are hopeful the procedure will be available from plastic surgeons and stem cell therapists soon.