• Journal of Life Science
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.196-201
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• 2022

Insects have been proposed as new protein sources for human nutrition, and protein availability is affected by insect characteristics. Fermentation can be used to obtain a variety of insect-based ingredients and products with unique properties, but its effect on protein availability is unknown. Fermented cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus) powder consists mainly of protein, and its oral administration has been reported to improve hair growth in androgenetic alopecia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hair-promoting activity of fermented cricket powder in an animal model using male C57BL/6 mice (25-30 g). The abdominal hair of the mouse (2x2.5 cm) was gently removed, and the groups fed as follows: Intact controls (no cricket powder); cricket powder only; and fermented cricket powder only. Food was applied daily for 11 weeks. Observational and physical examinations were performed and the results of the different groups compared. The application of fermented cricket powder significantly (p<0.01) promoted hair growth compared to the intact controls. The C57BL/6 results confirmed increased growth after seven weeks when the proportion of anagen follicles had increased by about 125% and 120% in the control and cricket powder groups, respectively. In conclusion, fermented cricket powder can be seen as a promising alternative alopecia treatment because it promotes hair growth, and, given the powder's composition, trace elements such as amino acids may have contributed to these effects.

• International Journal of Molecular Medicine
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.2409-2419
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• 2019

The use of finasteride for alleviating hair loss has been investigated, and it has been applied as an oral dose medication. However, due to the inconvenience of daily drug administration over long period of time, novel controllable finasteride delivery has been actively investigated. As a novel method of finasteride delivery, the development of finasteride-loaded microspheres for subcutaneous administration is becoming increasingly pharmaceutically important. Therefore, the present study aimed to use finasteride-loaded microspheres in a controlled manner in an attempt to overcome the limitations of the oral administration of finasteride and to cause fewer adverse effects. Finasteride-loaded microspheres containing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) and finasteride at a ratio of 4:1 were prepared, and a testosterone-induced androgenic alopecia mouse model was used. Following observation for 10 weeks, the percentage hair growth was 86.7% (total hair growth 60%, partial hair growth 26.7%) in the orally-applied finasteride-treated group as a positive control, and 93.3% (total hair growth 60%, partial hair growth 33.3%) in the finasteride-loaded microspheres-treated group. Serum dihydrotestosterone levels began to decrease at week 6 in the orally-applied finasteride- and finasteride-loaded microsphere-treated groups. In addition, the finasteride-loaded microspheres-treated group exhibited similar follicular number, follicular length, anagen/telogen ratio and hair bulb diameter values to those of the orally-applied finasteride-treated group. Furthermore, the finasteride-loaded microspheres increased the activities of phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B and Wnt/β-catenin in relation to hair follicle cell growth signaling in mouse skin, and suppressed the apoptosis of hair follicle cells by reducing the expression of transforming growth factor-β2 and caspase-3, which are indicators of apoptosis. In conclusion, the administration of a single injection of finasteride-loaded microspheres was effective in treating testosterone-induced alopecia. Furthermore, it led to equivalent hair growth effects when compared with orally-applied finasteride, thus revealing the possibility of effective treatment via different routes of administration.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2011

Hair is an appendage of skin which protects the body from outer physical and chemical stimuli. Hair is generated from the hair follicle lying on a sunken basal layer of epidermis. Hair cycling, which regenerates hair follicles throughout the life time of the organism. Numerous kinds of factors which exist at the hair follicle have been reported to regulate hair cycling, Human growth hormone secreted from pituitary gland, initially demonstrated to accelerate organ's growth, has been reported to play a role in the biology of organ size determination. We investigated the effect of 6-histidines residues tagged at amino-terminus of human growth hormone using light and electronmicroscopic methods. Human growth hormone encapsulated in nano-liposome (LhGH) was used to find how LhGH affects hair follicle cycling of mouse (C57BL6/CrN). Distilled water as a negative control, 3% Minoxidil as a positive control, and LhGH were applied to mouse for weeks. LhGH increased the number of exposed hairs per given areas ($1mm^2$). This result was also confirmed using a different breed of mice which show natural hair loss in an old age (about 17 months after birth). When LhGH was applied for 3 weeks after natural hair loss, natural hair loss on these mice was prevented, However, the control group mice on which LhGH was not applied showed further hair loss. This result indicates that LhGH may stimulate hair cycling of mouse. In clusion, it is cleat that the LhGH increased the number of hair on mice and help the depilated skin to grow new hair follicles again.