A naturally occurring ribose sugar has already been used to successfully stimulate hair growth in mice, say scientists, and can be applied to a variety of carrier gels inexpensively.

Scientists in the UK and Pakistan say that the "promising" discovery offers hope in the search for a cure for male pattern baldness, known as androgenic alopecia, which affects up to half the men in the world, many as early as 30 years of age.

The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Pharmacology by scientists from the University of Sheffield and COMSATS University Pakistan, identified 2-deoxy-D-ribose (2dDR), as a hair regrowth stimulant.

This sugar plays a "fundamental" role in several biological processes both in animals and humans.

The research team had been studying how the sugar can help to heal wounds by promoting the formation of new blood vessels over the past eight years, but during the research, they also noticed that hair around the healing wounds appeared to grow more quickly compared to those that hadn't been treated.

To explore further, the researchers established a model of testosterone-driven hair loss in mice—similar to the cause of pattern baldness in men.

They found that applying a small dose of the naturally occurring sugar helped to form new blood vessels, which led to hair regrowth.

Findings from the study show that the sugar is as effective at regrowing hair as Minoxidil—an existing drug used to treat hair loss.