Abstract: OBJECTIVE To study the effect of Chinese medicine ingredients combined with minoxidil against androgenic alopecia. METHODS Shikimic acid, baicalin and cedrol were combined with minoxidil, respectively. Human dermal papilla cell(hDPC) proliferation assays were utilized to verify the effect of the Chinese medicine ingredients combined with minoxidil on improving cell viability and determine the optimized combination ratio. C57BL/6 mice model of androgenic alopecia with testosterone intervention was utilized to evaluate the hair regeneration effect of the combination of drugs. The 5α-reductase inhibition experiment was used to explore the action mechanism of cedrol against androgenic alopecia. RESULTS Cell proliferation assays showed that shikimic acid, baicalin and cedrol remarkably promoted cell proliferation at the concentration of 5 μmol·L^-1, and the combination of these Chinese medicine ingredients with minoxidil could synergically improve cell viability. Combination therapies of cedrol and minoxidil, baicalin and minoxidil at 1:1 molar ratio exhibited the highest cell viability. In vivo, the pharmacodynamic indicators of cedrol and minoxidil combination group were significantly higher than those of other administration groups, such as hair cover area, the length of regenerated hair. The 5α-reductase inhibition experiment show that the inhibitory rate of cedrol on 5α-reductase was higher than(69.60±0.89)%, and the inhibition of combination therapy of cedrol-minoxidil on 5α-reductase was significantly higher than minoxidil. CONCLUSION Shikimic acid, baicalin and cedrol combined with minoxidil can synergically promote the proliferation of human dermal papilla cells. The combination therapy of cedrol-minoxidil(1:1), as the best combination of anti-androgenetic alopecia, shows synergistic effect in improving cell viability, promoting hair follicle differentiation, inducing hair follicle cycle transition and accelerating hair regeneration. Inhibition of 5α-reductase activity is one of the main mechanisms of cedrol.