ABSTRACT
Cyclosporin A (CsA) has been used as a potent immunosuppressive agent for inhibiting the graft rejection after organ transplantation. However, CsA provokes lots of side effects including hirsutism, the phenomenon of abnormal hair growth in the body. In the present study, we investigated the hair growth stimulating effect of CsA using in vivo and in vitro test models. When topically applied on the back skin of mice, CsA induced fast telogen to anagen transition. In contrast, CsA had no effect on the growth of human hair follicle tissues cultured in vitro, indicating that it might not have the mitogenic effect on hair follicles. To identify the genes related with CsA-induced hair growth, we performed differential display RT-PCR. Among the genes obtained, the expression of synapse associated protein 102 (SAP102) was verified using competitive RT-PCR. The result showed that the expression of SAP102 was significantly induced by CsA treatment in the back skin of C57BL/6 mice. However, the increase of SAP102 mRNA was also seen in spontaneous anagen mice, suggesting that induction of SAP102 is one event of the anagen hair growth response regardless of how the growth state was induced. SAP102 was not expressed in cultured human hair outer root sheath and dermal papilla cells. Immunohistochemistry analysis showed that CsA induced the expression of SAP102 in perifollicular region of mouse anagen hair. Together, these results suggest that SAP102 is one of hair-cycle-dependent genes, whose expression is related with the anagen progression.
Subject(s)
Cyclosporine/pharmacology , Hair/drug effects , Hair/growth & development , Neuropeptides/genetics , Animals , Base Sequence , Cells, Cultured , Cyclosporine/administration & dosage , DNA Primers/genetics , Female , Gene Expression/drug effects , Gene Expression Profiling , Guanylate Kinases , Hair/metabolism , Humans , Immunohistochemistry , Membrane Proteins , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Neuropeptides/metabolism , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: The appearance of lip wrinkles is problematic if it is adversely influenced by lipstick make-up causing incomplete color tone, spread phenomenon and pigment remnants. It is mandatory to develop an objective assessment method for lip wrinkle status by which the potential of wrinkle-improving products to lips can be screened. The present study is aimed at finding out the useful parameters from the image analysis of lip wrinkles that is affected by lipstick application. METHODS: The digital photograph image of lips before and after lipstick application was assessed from 20 female volunteers. Color tone was measured by Hue, Saturation and Intensity parameters, and time-related pigment spread was calculated by the area over vermilion border by image-analysis software (Image-Pro). The efficacy of wrinkle-improving lipstick containing asiaticoside was evaluated from 50 women by using subjective and objective methods including image analysis in a double-blind placebo-controlled fashion. RESULTS: The color tone and spread phenomenon after lipstick make-up were remarkably affected by lip wrinkles. The level of standard deviation by saturation value of image-analysis software was revealed as a good parameter for lip wrinkles. By using the lipstick containing asiaticoside for 8 weeks, the change of visual grading scores and replica analysis indicated the wrinkle-improving effect. As the depth and number of wrinkles were reduced, the lipstick make-up appearance by image analysis also improved significantly. CONCLUSION: The lip wrinkle pattern together with lipstick make-up can be evaluated by the image-analysis system in addition to traditional assessment methods. Thus, this evaluation system is expected to test the efficacy of wrinkle-reducing lipstick that was not described in previous dermatologic clinical studies.
Subject(s)
Cosmetics , Image Processing, Computer-Assisted , Lip/pathology , Skin Aging/pathology , Adult , Biosensing Techniques , Female , Humans , Severity of Illness IndexABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Hair loss is a distressing condition for an increasing number of men and women. It is of great importance; therefore, to develop new therapies for the treatment of hair loss. OBJECTIVE: We examined the effects of 45 plant extracts that have been traditionally used for treating hair loss in oriental medicine in order to identify potential stimulants of hair growth. METHODS: Six-week-old female C57BL/6 and C3H mice were used for evaluating the hair growth-promoting effects of the plant extracts. Topical application onto the backs of the C57BL/6 and C3H mice was performed daily for 30 days and 45 days, respectively. Protein synthesis was measured by the cysteine uptake assay, using cultured murine vibrissae follicles. Proliferation of the immortalized human keratinocyte cell line (HaCaT) and human dermal papilla (DP) cells was evaluated by the MTT and thymidine incorporation assays. The mRNA levels of several growth factors that have been implicated in hair growth control were measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: Among the tested plant extracts, the extract of Asiasari radix showed the most potent hair growth stimulation in C57BL/6 and C3H mice experiments. In addition, this extract markedly increased the protein synthesis in vibrissae follicle cultures and the proliferation of both HaCaT and human DP cells in vitro. Moreover, the A. radix extract induced the expression of VEGF in human DP cells that were cultured in vitro. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the A. radix extract has hair growth-promoting potential, and that this effect may be due to its regulatory effects on both cell growth and growth factor gene expression.
Subject(s)
Alopecia/drug therapy , Hair Follicle/drug effects , Hair/drug effects , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Vibrissae/drug effects , Animals , Cell Proliferation , Cell Survival , Cholestenone 5 alpha-Reductase/metabolism , Cysteine/metabolism , DNA Primers/chemistry , Female , Humans , Keratinocytes/metabolism , Mice , Mice, Inbred C3H , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Plant Preparations/pharmacology , RNA, Messenger/metabolism , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Skin/cytology , Skin/drug effects , Tetrazolium Salts/pharmacology , Thiazoles/pharmacology , Thymidine/chemistry , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Three kinds of topical dosage forms of minoxidil (MXD), namely vesicles, double emulsions, and an inclusion complex with hydoxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD), were prepared. The skin retention of MXD in the preparations was evaluated in vitro using hairless mouse skins. After applying the preparations onto the skin and rinsing it, the amount of the drug left on the skin was determined using HPLC. Retention was the highest when the drug was encapsulated in cationic vesicles. Nonionic vehicle, the double emulsion, and HP-beta-CD left no significant amount of the drug after rinsing the skin. Thus, an ionic interaction between the cationic vehicle and negatively charged skin is likely responsible for the relatively high skin retention. In vivo hair growth-promotion effect of each dosage form was investigated, in which the sample application onto the clipped backs of female mice (C57BL6) and the subsequent rinsing of the backs were done once a day for 30 days. Only MXD in the cationic vesicles had hair growth promotion effect, possibly due to significant skin retention.
Subject(s)
Drug Carriers/pharmacokinetics , Hair/drug effects , Hair/growth & development , Minoxidil/pharmacokinetics , Skin/metabolism , beta-Cyclodextrins , 2-Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin , Administration, Topical , Animals , Cyclodextrins/administration & dosage , Cyclodextrins/pharmacokinetics , Delayed-Action Preparations , Detergents , Disease Models, Animal , Drug Carriers/administration & dosage , Drug Compounding/methods , Emulsions , Fatty Acids , Female , Mice , Mice, Hairless , Minoxidil/administration & dosage , Propylene Glycol/administration & dosage , Silicones/administration & dosage , Skin Absorption/drug effects , Stearates/pharmacokinetics , Transport Vesicles/drug effectsABSTRACT
In search of natural extracts for hair growth, we found that the extract of dried root of Sophora flavescens has outstanding hair growth promoting effect. After topical application of Sophora flavescens extract onto the back of C57BL/6 mice, the earlier conversion of telogen-to-anagen was induced. The growth of dermal papilla cells cultured in vitro, however, was not affected by Sophora flavescens extract treatment. RT-PCR analysis showed that Sophora flavescens extract induced mRNA levels of growth factors such as IGF-1 and KGF in dermal papilla cells, suggesting that the effects of Sophora flavescens extract on hair growth may be mediated through the regulation of growth factors in dermal papilla cells. In addition, the Sophora flavescens extract revealed to possess potent inhibitory effect on the type II 5alpha-reductase activity. Taken together, these results suggest that Sophora flavescens extract has hair growth promoting potential and can be used for hair growing products.
Subject(s)
Growth Substances/genetics , Hair/growth & development , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plant Roots/chemistry , Sophora/chemistry , Administration, Topical , Animals , Base Sequence , DNA/biosynthesis , DNA/drug effects , DNA Primers , Female , Hair/drug effects , Mice , Mice, Inbred C57BL , Plant Extracts/administration & dosage , Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction , Thymidine/biosynthesisABSTRACT
Microspheres were prepared by complexation of a cationic polymer, polyquaternium-24, and an anionic surfactant, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). The cationic polymer solution was emulsified in dimethylsiloxane to give water in silicone emulsion (W/Si), and it was used as a template for the formation of microspheres. The emulsion was dispersed into the SLS solution. In this process, two kinds of droplets, silicone dropletes and microspheres composed of the cationic polymer and SLS, were formed, evidenced by X-ray energy dispersive spectra. The mean diameter of the microspheres was reduced from 105.7 to 64.8 mum as the stirring rate for W/Si preparation increased from 300 to 1000 rpm. It is believed that water droplets in W/Si emulsion, when exposed to SLS solution, could be solidified by the complexation of the cationic polymer and the anionic surfactant.
