Herbal Hair Loss Product
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009In a recent article published in the European Journal of Dermatology, a group in Kang et has been working with a native plant known as Schisandra Nigra. This plant is native to the Jeju Island in South Korea and is being evaluated for its rumored effects on hair by natives. The study is being conducted on rat hair and is showing some promise.
Tests were conducted on rat vibrissa follicles by treating them with 85% ethanol extract of S. Nigra (Schisandra Nigra) where the most evident effect was the vibrissa follicle’s hair fiber length increased significantly. In addition to the effects of the EtOH (ethanol) extract, anagen (growth phase) progression of the hair shaft was induced. Even more so the S. Nigra extract also increased both the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen in the bulb matrix region and the proliferation of immortalized vibrissa dermal papilla cells with more activity on hair follicle cells.
To help researches determine what mechanism in the S. Nigra plant helps induce hair growth, they examined its relationship with the TGF-beta2 complex. This is a signal pathway known to regulate catagen induction. Catagen induction is the phase that comes after the hair cycle’s growth phase.
The documented results of S. Nigra application for 7 days was the lowering of TGF-beta2 expression in the bulb matrix region in comparison to that of the control follicles expected to be in the anagen-catagen transition phase. This suggests that S. Nigra potentially promotes hair growth by deregulating TGF-beta2 as well as the proliferation of dermal papilla.
Put simply, this plant’s extracts stop hair follicles from going into their resting phase. This means hair will continue to grow and the number of growing hairs at one time will be higher. Still, these findings cannot be proven to truly work on humans. We still need more conclusive studies to be made to prove the true effects of this plant on human hair growth.
We at our Orange County California hair transplant offices will keep you updated with the most recent finings on hair restoration methods and techniques. Because of the lack of sufficient or adequate evidence, we do not recommend the use of this or other herbal hair loss products for treatment of male or female patterned hair loss at this point. Will continue to monitor any additional findings or new updates in the world of hair restoration and keep our readers posted.