Herbal Extracts Induce Dermal Papilla Cell Proliferation of Human Hair Follicles

BACKGROUND: The number of people suffering from balding or hair thinning is increasing, despite the advances in various medical therapies. Therefore, it is highly important to develop new therapies to inhibit balding and increase hair proliferation. OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of herbal extracts commonly used for improving balding in traditional medicine to identify potential agents for hair proliferation. METHODS: The expression levels of 5alpha-reductase isoforms (type I and II) were analyzed using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in the human follicular dermal papilla cells (DPCs). The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenylteterazolium bromide and bromodeoxyuridine tests were used to evaluate the cell proliferation effect of herbal extracts in DPCs. The expression levels of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), Akt, cyclin D1, cyclin-dependent kinase 4 (Cdk4), B-cell lymphoma (Bcl-2) and Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) were measured using western blot analysis. RESULTS: The 5alpha-reductase isoform mRNAs and proteins were detected in the cultured DPCs, and the expression level of 5alpha-R2 in DPCs in the presence of the herbal extracts was gradually decreased. Herbal extracts were found to significantly increase the proliferation of human DPCs at concentrations ranging from 1.5% to 4.5%. These results show that the herbal extracts tested affected the protein expressions of ERK, Akt, cyclin D1, Cdk4, Bcl-2, and Bax in DPCs. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that herbal extracts exert positive effects on hair proliferation via ERK, Akt, cyclin D1, and Cdk4 signaling in DPCs; they also suggest that herbal extracts could be a great alternative therapy for increasing hair proliferation.

Cycloartane triterpenoids from euphorbia macrostegia with their cytotoxicity against MDA-MB48 and MCF-7 cancer cell lines

The dried plant was extracted with dichloromethane and after defatting with hexane, transferred repeatedly on silica columns using dichloromethane-hexane and ethyl acetate-hexane as mobile phases. Finally the fractions were purified by high performance liquid chromatography using a Pack-Sil column and hexane: Ethyl acetate as mobile phase. The structures of the isolated compounds included: cycloart-25-ene-3 Beta, 24-diol [1], cycloart-23[Z]-ene-3 Beta, 25-diol [2], cycloart-23[E]-ene-3 Beta, 25-diol [3], and 24-methylene-cycloart-3 Beta -ol [4] were elucidated by 13C- and 1H-NMR as well as IR and by the aid of mass fragmentation pattern and comparing with the literature. The biological effects of the compounds were done by the MTT assay on two different cancer cell lines including MDA-MB48 and MCF-7. Among these compounds, cycloart-23[E]-ene-3 Beta, 25-diol [3] was the most active compound on MDA-MB468 cell line [LD50 = 2.05 Micro gmL-1] and cycloart-23[Z]-ene-3 Beta, 25-diol [2] was the most active compound on MCF-7 cell line [LD50 = 5.4 Micro gmL-1]