Serum based on plant extracts boosts hair growth in weeks

A serum designed to reverse hair loss has shown promising results in less than two months. Based on plant extracts and cell-stimulating proteins, the topical treatment led to visible improvements in hair density compared to a placebo formula.

Baldness affects, to some extent, up to half of men and 40 percent of women before the age of 50. Some treatments, such as finasteride and minoxidil – also known as Rogaine – can be effective, but this depends on a number of factors, including genetics and the amount of hair lost.

Researchers are studying new methods of hair regrowth, including the use of stem cells, manipulation of fibroblasts – a type of cell that helps form connective tissue – and drugs that appear to awaken dormant hair follicles.

Looking for another approach, researchers at Schweitzer Biotech in Taiwan developed a serum that contains caffeine – a common ingredient in anti-hair loss shampoos – and two proteins that stimulate cell growth: insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and fibroblast growth factor-7 (FGF-7), which have shown promise for hair follicle regeneration. It also contains extracts from Asian Centellaa tropical herb commonly used in skin care, which appears to promote healthy hair follicles.

To test it, a team of international researchers recruited 60 adults, aged 18 to 60, who did not necessarily have significant hair loss. They were divided into five groups, with the first receiving a placebo serum with no active ingredient and the second receiving a base formulation of 0.1% caffeine and vitamin B5, which has hydrating properties. The remaining groups all had this basic formulation, but the third also had IGF-1 and FGF-7, the fourth also had C. Asian snippets, and the fifth had all of that.

Participants were asked to apply 1 milliliter of serum all over their scalp every evening for 56 days. For most of the outcomes the team measured – such as hair density, strand thickness and reduction in hair loss – things improved from group one to five. Hair density improved most significantly; by almost 25 percent in group five, almost double the change in the placebo group.

Researchers wonder if C. Asian extracts in particular can strengthen hair roots or improve blood circulation around their follicles. “This plant has been used for anti-aging, restorative and anti-inflammatory purposes,” says Christos Tziotzios of King’s College London. “So it’s a bit of a miracle herb, so-called. A few other things in the study have more evidence, for example long-acting IGF-1 and FGF-7; these are known to impact the hair cycle.”

Both the researchers and Tziotzios caution that the study is small and larger in scope and that longer trials are needed before treatments based on this formulation are available. “That’s not to say it’s not a potentially interesting thing to study, but it obviously requires further work,” Tziotzios says. “The better we understand the molecular mechanisms underlying hair loss in general, the hair biology, the more likely we are to get closer and closer to a radical treatment. »