Gold thread implantation promotes hair growth in human and mice / 한국실험동물학회지

Thread-embedding therapy has been widely applied for cosmetic purposes such as wrinkle reduction and skin tightening. Particularly, gold thread was reported to support connective tissue regeneration, but, its role in hair biology remains largely unknown due to lack of investigation. When we implanted gold thread and Happy Lift™ in human patient for facial lifting, we unexpectedly found an increase of hair regrowth in spite of no use of hair growth medications. When embedded into the depilated dorsal skin of mice, gold thread or polyglycolic acid (PGA) thread, similarly to 5% minoxidil, significantly increased the number of hair follicles on day 14 after implantation. And, hair re-growth promotion in the gold threadimplanted mice were significantly higher than that in PGA thread group on day 11 after depilation. In particular, the skin tissue of gold thread-implanted mice showed stronger PCNA staining and higher collagen density compared with control mice. These results indicate that gold thread implantation can be an effective way to promote hair re-growth although further confirmatory study is needed for more information on therapeutic mechanisms and long-term safety.

Facial Foreign Body Granuloma by Gold Thread Needle-embedding Therapy / 대한피부과학회지

We read with interest a paper published in a recent issue of the Korean Journal of Dermatology, in which Baek et al. presented two cases of facial foreign body granulomas induced by needle-embedding therapy. The cases were foreign body granulomas induced by acupoint embedding thread by doctors of Oriental medicine. Recently we managed a patient who presented with two linear, fluctuating, erythematous nodules with a purulent discharge involving the left cheek 2 months after gold thread needle-embedding therapy, a so called gold-lifting procedure, in which gold thread is embedded via acupuncture for the purpose of face-lifting. A biopsy obtained from the lesion showed acute and chronic inflammatory cells with foreign body-type giant cells throughout the dermis and subcutis. Under the diagnosis of a foreign body reaction with clinicopathologic examination, we treated her several times with incision and drainage and oral corticosteroids. After 1 year of treatment, the lesions did not recur during 3 months of follow-up.