Hair Loss

Dr Proctor notes: There have long been reports that gensing extract has some hair loss treatment efficacy.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2011 Sep 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Fructus panax ginseng extract promotes hair regeneration in C57BL/6 mice.

Park S, Shin WS, Ho J.

Radix panax ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer, Araliaceae, RPG) has been documented to possess hair growth activity and widely used to treat alopecia, while no report has been issued to date on the effect of Fructus panax ginseng (FPG) on hair regeneration.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

To investigate the effects of FPG extract on the proliferation of human hair dermal papilla cells (DPCs) and on the promotion of hair regeneration in C57BL6 mice, cell proliferation was evaluated in cultured DPC by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and measured the expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax by immunoblot assay. We also compared the effects of topical FPG extract (1 and 10mg/ml, 100ìl/d) with the effects of minoxidil as a positive control (5%, 100ìl/d) or vehicle control (30% ethanol) on the depilation-induced hair cycling in 7 week-old-C57BL/6 mice.

RESULTS:

FPG extract significantly increased the proliferation of DPCs in dose and time dependent manners (P<0.05, P<0.01 and P<0.001). FPG extract also enhanced Bcl-2 expression and decreased Bax expression compared with control (P<0.01). Moreover, significant elongations of anagen phase during hair cycle after application of FPG were evaluated by photographical and histological observations.

CONCLUSIONS:

FPG extract improves the cell proliferation of human DPCs through anti apoptotic activation. Topical administration of FPG extract might have hair regeneration activity for the treatment of hair loss.

Slightly edited for hair loss blog use