Asiasari Radix Extract Grows Hair in Mice and in Human Skin Cells

"Seek and ye shall find" is the hair loss researcher's motto. (Photo by Psymeg&Chooch)

There are probably hundreds of yet undiscovered plants that may aid in hair loss. The problem is, most of the time we don't even know where to look.

Fortunately, there are some scientists who are dedicated to collecting the strangest looking plants nature has to offer and making hair growth potions out of them. One of the less known plants that shows promise in treating hair loss is Asiasari radix, which is the root of the Asiasarum plant (known as Saishin in Japanese).

In a 2005 study from the Journal of Dermatological Science, Rho et al. report:

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.

The authors first rubbed a 1% solution of Asiasari radix extract mixed in 40% ethanol on the backs of mice. According to the paper, the extract induced earlier telogen-to-anagen conversion, which means that the resting phase of the hair got shorter. It also increased the depth and size of the hair follicles.

One possible explanation for the observed hair growth is that the extract increased the uptake of cysteine, an amino acid, in mouse hair follicles cultured in vitro by 129%. Cysteine uptake has been shown to correlate with hair follicle growth.

The authors also tested the effect of Asiasari radix on human kerotinocyte cells and cultures of human hair dermal papilla cells. The proliferation of the cells increased by 106.5% and 115%, respectively. In layman's terms this means that the extract increased the number of cells that are involved in producing hair.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (or VEGF) expression was also increased by the application of the extract. VEGF plays an important role in angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing vessels. VEGF expression is typically higher during the anagen (growth) phase and lower during the catagen (shedding) and telogen (resting) phases of hair. It is not certain whether VEGF directly affects hair growth, but it has been suggested that one of the ways that Minoxidil works is by regulating the expression of VEGF.

Interestingly, Asiasari radix did not inhibit type II 5-alpha-reductase, which is the enzyme that converts testosterone to DHT. DHT, in turn, is the hormone that causes hair loss in those individuals who are genetically susceptible. This means that Asiasari radix grows hair through other mechanisms than reducing DHT.

As far as I know, there is currently no product on the market that has Asiasari radix in it, so for now you'll have to scout the Japanese woods and make your own Saishin potion.

For more information on hair growth, see these posts:

Vitamin E Tocotrienols May Grow Hair in Humans
3 Quick Ways to Find Out Whether Your Hair Growth Product is Working
Green Tea Extract Grows Hair in Vitro, May Work in Vivo
Mixture of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid and Iron Increases Hair Growth in Mice

Read More......

Vitamin E Tocotrienols May Grow Hair in Humans

This is what palm fruit looks like. (Photo by sarcozona)

How does vitamin E affect hair loss? Currently, very little information exists on the subject.

The reason is that no official studies have really been done. There is only one study, which is related to a recently granted patent by Carotech. The product related to this patent, Toco-8 is a palm fruit extract that contains both tocopherols and tocotrienols.

These forms of vitamin E are said to be more efficient than alpha-tocopherol, which is the most common (and potentially harmful, if recent studies are to be believed) ingredient in most vitamin E supplements.

Let's take a look at the patent. Ho et al. report:

Eleven volunteers were randomized to receive the tocotrienol formulation supplementation while 8 volunteers were in the placebo group. All volunteers were randomized to receive one capsule comprising either (i) a mixture of tocotrienols and alpha-tocopheral, or (ii) a placebo, twice daily after food over a period of at least 5 months. They were seen for an efficacy evaluation every month throughout the study. The control was a placebo capsule containing 600 mg of soya bean oil, and the tocotrienol formulation consisted of capsules containing a mixture of about 50 mg of tocotrienols and about 23 i.u. alpha-tocopherol.

At the end of the supplementation period, all volunteers in the tocotrienol formulation group had positive results, recording an increase in the number of hairs in the evaluation area. Seven volunteers (64%) showed regrowth of between 10-35% while 3 volunteers (27%) had 50% or greater regrowth. One volunteer had regrowth of more than 100%. The mean percentage of increase in the number of hairs is 42.4.+-.40.9% (mean.+-.SD). The increase is statistically significant (p<0.05)>0.05) in the number of hairs was detected between baseline and post-supplementation, thus indicating that the placebo effect did not occur during this study.

However, in terms of the weight of the hair, no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) between pre- and post-supplementation was detected for both groups of volunteers (tocotrienol and placebo). The mean percentage of weight increment was 16.4.+-.42.5% in the tocotrienol formulation group while that of the placebo group had an increase of 5.7.+-.40.1%. (Table 2).

The above-mentioned studies therefore indicate that supplementation with a formulation comprising a mixture of tocotrienol, alpha-tocopherol and pharmaceutically acceptable excipient appears to promote hair growth and increase the number of hair in persons experiencing hair loss.

According to the patent, all subjects in the tocotrienol group experienced hair growth, measured by the number of hairs on the scalp. The minimum increase was 10% and the highest increase was 100%. Average increase was 42%.

What is unclear to me is whether the "50 mg of tocotrienols" mentioned in the study means 50 mg of each tocotrienol or 50 mg total. In any case, the product they formulated based on this study contains the following amounts of tocotrienols:

30 mg d-alpha-tocotrienol
4 mg d-beta-tocotrienol
52 mg d-gamma-tocotrienol
14 mg d-delta-tocotrienol

It also has 30 mg (200% RDA) of d-alpha-tocopherol, which seems kind of high. It might be, though, that the dangers of d-alpha-tocopherol are present only when the other tocopherols and tocotrienols are not present. I'll look into this later.

Since this is a new product and not many know whether it actually works, I figured this is the perfect chance for me to conduct yet another experiment in the strange world of hair growth. Instead of Toco-8, I'm going to be taking a similar product by Jarrow Formulas called Toco-Sorb, which has the following amounts:

17.3 mg d-alpha-tocotrienol
2.6 mg d-beta-tocotrienol
31.5 mg d-gamma-tocotrienol
8.6 mg d-delta-tocotrienol

Looking at these numbers, I'll need to take two servings of Toco-Sorb to get the same amount of tocotrienols as with Toco-8. There's not much price difference between the two products: 60 servings of Toco-8 costs $29.95, while 120 servings of Toco-Sorb costs $30.74.

Toco-Sorb also promises 2-3 times better bioavailability through their "specialized lipid mixture". I have no idea whether this is true or not, but I'm guessing it can't hurt.

Go to next post on this experiment

For more information on hair growth, see these posts:

Asiasari Radix Extract Grows Hair in Mice and in Human Skin Cells
3 Quick Ways to Find Out Whether Your Hair Growth Product is Working
Green Tea Extract Grows Hair in Vitro, May Work in Vivo
Mixture of 5-Aminolevulinic Acid and Iron Increases Hair Growth in Mice

Read More......

3 Quick Ways to Find Out Whether Your Hair Growth Product Is Working

If you wake up with this on your pillow, the product is not working. (Photo by How can I recycle this)

If you're slick bald, deciding whether or not a hair growth product is working is simple. Hair growing where it didn't? Product works. Scalp still a human solar panel? Product doesn't work.

However, in those who suffer (or think they might suffer) from general thinning, the matter is more complicated. To be able to judge the results of using a product just by looking in the mirror takes at least 6 months, more likely a year. That's because the hair cycle is so long. It takes patience.

A lot of people will try a product for a few months and stop using the product because they think the results aren't there. Most likely they'll then try another remedy – again for a few months – and just keep switching from one product to another. This, of course, tells them nothing about whether the products actually work or not. They might be effective but grow hair only after a year or so, or they may simply stop hair loss in its tracks (or just slow it down, but that would be very hard to objectively detect and isn't much help anyway).

The following tips are not perfect – far from it. They're not a match for the virtue of patience. Unless you notice an increase in hair loss, you should give any product at least six months before making the decision to quit using it.

They are, however, simple and helpful indicators of whether the product is working its magic or not. They should also give you some idea of the cause of your hair loss – genetics, inflammation or something else. Depending on how long your hair usually grows and how effective the product is, you might see changes in these indicators (or hair-o-markers as I like to call them) earlier or later.

So, let's take a look at what the three ways of measurement are.

1. Count the number of hairs you shed.

Before you embark on a great journey of hair growth, you should try to count as meticulously as possible the average number of hairs you normally lose each day. Why? Because this number will serve as a reference to which you will compare the number of hairs lost after having used the hair growth product for a while. Remember that anything up to a hundred hairs is considered normal.

Of course, noticing and counting every single hair you lose during the day is very difficult (unless you wear one of those hair nets to the office and count them at home). Instead, you could count the average number of hairs you lose in the shower, or the number hairs on your pillow in the morning. It's impossible to say what the "normal range" is in this case, but the important thing is to have an estimate of how much hair you lost before you started eating Rogaine with your cereal.

One of the things that happens with androgenic alopecia (and some other forms of hair loss) is that the anagen (growth) phase gets progressively shorter. So when a single hair used to grow for 5 years, the next generation hair from the same follicle grows only for 4 years, and then the next one for 3, etc.

And what does this have to do with the effectiveness of the product? If the hair growth product really is making the anagen phase longer, as they often are supposed to do, you should see a reduction in the number of hairs lost.

To see why this is so, imagine that the average anagen phase lasts only one day, after which the hair immediately falls off (this'd be the telogen phase). Now, if you have about 100,000 hair follicles, you'd see 100,000 hairs being shed each day. Let's say that the product doubles the length of the anagen phase, making it two days. You'd now see only 50,000 hairs on average being shed each day. You'd still need a nuclear bomb to clean your shower drain, but at least you'd have an indicator that the hair product is doing something.

2. Look at the thickness of the hairs you shed.

Another thing that happens with genetic hair loss is that the thickness of individual hairs produced by a hair follicle is progressively reduced. This process is known as miniaturization. It happens to most people as they age, whether or not they have androgenic alopecia or not – including women.

Since most hair loss remedies and growth products claim to increase the size of the hair follicle, you should see an increase in the thickness of the hairs. This can be difficult to detect just by looking at your head in the mirror, since how it looks will depend on things like lighting, the length of your hair, the dryness/wetness level of your hair, and the ridiculousness of the face you're making when you're doing it.

A much easier way is to look at the thickness of the hairs you shed. If you have photographic memory, great, but you could also save some of the hairs you shed before you start the experiment, so that you can compare their thickness to the ones you shed while you're rubbing raspberry ketones and fermented dog saliva on your scalp. You could even track the progression of your experiment by saving a couple of samples from different parts of the head every month. It's all about the scientific method, see?

3. Look at the length of the hairs you shed.

This kind of ties in with the first tip, but it's still a bit different. The length of the hairs you shed not only tells you how long the anagen phase of the hair was, it also gives you an indication of possible scalp inflammation. Whereas with androgenic alopecia the anagen phase gets slightly shorter with each hair cycle, with inflammation you might shed hairs before they reach the end of their natural growth phase. That is, hairs are being lost earlier than they normally would.

You could of course argue that inflammation merely shortens the anagen phase even further, and I wouldn't argue back, I would merely call you names for trying to be clever. The important thing is that if you notice you're losing a lot of hairs that are much shorter than they should be (i.e. shorter than the rest of the hair on your head), you might have a problem with inflammation. Some of the follicles are probably more resistant to inflammation than others, so you'd have some hairs being shed due to reaching the telogen phase and others being shed much earlier due to inflammation.

Of course, this tip really only makes sense if you keep your hair long enough to notice the difference. Otherwise even the hair that has been growing for years is still going to be short. In that case, looking at the thickness would make more sense, as inflammation can also cause the hair to grow thinner.

Conclusion

So there we have them, the three simple and time-efficient ways to keep track of whether you're growing hair or thinning further. Not exactly rocket science, but certainly an improvement over staring at your hair in the mirror in a semi-hypnotic trance.

As I've mentioned many times in my blog posts, subjective evaluations can be notoriously misleading (see, for example, this post). Hopefully these tips will balance things slightly towards objectivism.

Have other tips? Share them!

For more information on hair growth, see these posts:

Asiasari Radix Extract Grows Hair in Mice and in Human Skin Cells
Vitamin E Tocotrienols May Grow Hair in Humans
Green Tea Extract Grows Hair in Vitro, May Work in Vivo
Signaling Protein Ephrin-A3 Grows New Hair Follicles and Thicker Hair

Read More......