ABSTRACT
Chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) is one of the most distressing side effects of antineoplastic chemotherapy for which there is no effective interventional approach. A low-level laser (LLL) device, the HairMax LaserComb®, has been cleared by the FDA to treat androgenetic alopecia. Its effects may be extended to other settings; we have demonstrated that LaserComb treatment induced hair regrowth in a mouse model for alopecia areata. In the current study, we tested whether LLL treatment could promote hair regrowth in a rat model for CIA. Chemotherapy agents cyclophosphamide, etoposide, or a combination of cyclophosphamide and doxorubicin were administered in young rats to induce alopecia, with or without LLL treatment. As expected, 7-10 days later, all the rats developed full body alopecia. However, rats receiving laser treatment regrew hair 5 days earlier than rats receiving chemotherapy alone or sham laser treatment (with the laser turned off). The accelerated hair regrowth in laser-treated rats was confirmed by histology. In addition, LLL treatment did not provide local protection to subcutaneously injected Shay chloroleukemic cells. Taken together, our results demonstrated that LLL treatment significantly accelerated hair regrowth after CIA without compromising the efficacy of chemotherapy in our rat model. Our results suggest that LLL should be explored for the treatment of CIA in clinical trials because LLL devices for home use (such as the HairMax LaserComb®) provide a user-friendly and noninvasive approach that could be translated to increased patient compliance and improved efficacy.
Subject(s)
Alopecia/chemically induced , Alopecia/radiotherapy , Antineoplastic Agents/adverse effects , Hair/growth & development , Hair/radiation effects , Low-Level Light Therapy , Alopecia/pathology , Animals , Cyclophosphamide/adverse effects , Disease Models, Animal , Doxorubicin/adverse effects , Etoposide/adverse effects , Female , Hair Follicle/growth & development , Hair Follicle/radiation effects , Hair Removal , Humans , Male , Mice , Rats , Wound Healing/radiation effectsABSTRACT
Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune non-scarring hair loss disorder. AA can be acute, recurrent, or chronic. Current therapeutic options for AA are limited, and there is no effective prevention for recurrent AA. We have previously shown a correlation between the expression of HSP70 (HSPA1A/B), a heat shock protein involved in the inflammatory response, and the onset of AA in the C3H/HeJ mouse model. In this study, we tested the effects of quercetin, a bioflavonoid with anti-inflammatory properties, on AA development and HSP70 expression in the C3H/HeJ model. Mice with spontaneous AA were treated with subcutaneous quercetin or sham injections. Hair regrowth was observed in lesional areas in all the quercetin-treated mice, but in none of the sham-treated mice. In addition, non-alopecic C3H/HeJ mice were heat-treated to induce alopecia, along with quercetin or sham injections. Whereas 24% of the heat-treated mice with sham injections developed alopecia, none of the mice receiving quercetin injections did. As expected, the level of HSP70 expression in quercetin-treated areas was comparable to control. Furthermore, we showed that systemic delivery of quercetin by intraperitoneal injections prevented/reduced spontaneous onset of AA. Our results demonstrated that quercetin provided effective treatment for AA as well as prevention of onset of AA in the C3H/HeJ model, and warrant further clinical studies to determine whether quercetin may provide both treatment for preexisting AA and prevention of recurrent AA. The ready availability of quercetin as a dietary supplement may lead to increased patient compliance and positive outcomes for AA.
Subject(s)
Alopecia Areata/drug therapy , Alopecia Areata/prevention & control , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use , Quercetin/therapeutic use , Animals , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/administration & dosage , Blotting, Western , Disease Models, Animal , Female , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/genetics , HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins/metabolism , Humans , Infusions, Subcutaneous , Mice , Mice, Inbred C3H , Quercetin/administration & dosage , Random AllocationABSTRACT
Comprobar que la administración por vía oral de probióticos (Lactobacillus acidophilus) en neonatos, disminuye la morbimortalidad asociada a la presencia de factores de riesgo para infección. Se seleccionaron en forma aleatoria 64 neonatos, mayores de 32 semanas de gestación, con un peso mayor de 1.250Kg; sin malformaciones congénitas, los cuales ingresaron al reten de cuidados intermedios o UTIN del Hospital "Dr. Miguel Pérez Carreño" con riesgos para infección. Los neonatos fueron separados en un grupo control y un grupo al cual se le administró diariamente una dosis de 250 millones de partículas de L. Acidophilus durante su hospitalización. Ambos grupos fueron comparados en base a días de hospitalización y frecuencia de complicaciones y evolución clínica. En el grupo control, el promedio de días de hospitalización fue de 10.5 días mientras que en el grupo estudio fue de 6.75 días (p=0.06). Complicaciones como anemia, ictericia e hipoglicemia fueron observadas con mayor frecuencia en el grupo control (p<0.05). Aquellos recién nacidos que recibieron el prebiótico tuvieron una evolución más favorable que los del grupo control (90,6% vs. 53.1%), pero la diferencia no fue estadísticamente significativa (p=0,365). No hubo complicaciones atribuibles al uso de L. Acidophillus. Los resultados positivos de este trabajo apoyan la necesidad de seguir investigando sobre el beneficio potencial del uso de prebióticos en el manejo de infecciones durante el período neonatal.