Novel hair treatment to prevent aging and hair loss improving hair shaft growth

Author: Samara Eberlin

Published at: June 10, 2019

24th World Congress of Dermatology, Milan, 10-15 June, 2019.
A. F. C. Pereira, M. H. Igarashi, R. Lage, S. G. Silva, M. Mercuri, A. F. Pereira, M. S. Silva, G. Facchini, A. L. T. A. Pinheiro, S. Eberlin.

Environmental factors play a key role in the extrinsic hair aging. A classic example is ultraviolet (UV) radiation, which is responsible for the degradation of collagen XVII?1 (COL17A1) present in hair follicle (HF), resulting in an aging hair phenotype characterized by thinning, depigmentation, and hair loss. In addition, dermal papilla cells, also present in HF, play a crucial role in morphogenesis and hair cycle through mechanisms involving the Wnt signaling pathway. This signaling pathway is required for the development, regeneration of HF, and hair growth, mediated by the stabilization and translocation of the key signal transducer ?-catenin. In this study, we evaluated the ability of a hair treatment including a shampoo (ShPi) and a tonic (HtPi) to prevent hair aging using ex vivo human scalp submitted to UV radiation. COL17A1 semi-quantification and stimulation of hair shaft growth were performed. In parallel, we evaluated the effects of an active complex (AcPi) present in hair products to improve Wnt signaling by ?-catenin quantification in dermal papilla cells. Our results demonstrated that the associated treatment with ShPi and HtPi was able to stimulate hair shaft growth by 31.49% in relation to the basal group and to prevent the excessive degradation of COL17A1 in HF exposed to UV radiation by 2.6-fold compared to the UV radiation group. In addition, AcPi acted to prolong the anagen phase by increasing ?-catenin production by 47.79% in dermal papilla cells. Taken together, our results show that the associated treatment with ShPi and HtPi products promotes growth, strengthening, and vitality of the hair shaft, besides protecting HF from the deleterious effects of UV radiation, preventing the appearance of an aging hair phenotype and hair loss.