First, the apocrine glands and hair follicles or sebaceous glands are not physically connected. They are separate structures within the skin. So for acid to come from the sweat glands and enter the hair follicles it would have to come up onto the skin and then drain into neighboring hair follicles. Thus if the theory was correct then it would suggest that those that sweat a lot would have pattern baldness or that sweaty areas would be most likely to develop hair loss. Arm pit apocrine glands are very active but there is no hair loss there so if the apocrine glands were contributing it would have to be only those on the scalp that would be producing uric acid and causing this alleged cornification. However, baldness is not associated with those that are more inclined to sweat or are more active or with exceptionally sweaty areas. If the theory were true, it would also suggest that a cure for pattern baldness would be to wash regularly and use deodorant!

Second, many studies have been done on pattern baldness where skin biopsies have been taken and examined under the microscope. Despite these numerous studies, no one has reported observing cornification, thickening, or scarring of pattern baldness affected hair follicles.

Third, it would be impossible for hair follicle transplants to work. The apocrine sweat glands would still be present on the top of the scalp and still active. If new follicles were transplanted to this area of uric acid production that allegedly cornifies hair follicles then one would expect that the newly transplanted hair follicles would also be affected. However, this is not the case.