Promotion of hair growth by ginseng radix on cultured mouse vibrissal hair follicles.

A 70% methanol extract from red ginseng (steamed and dried roots of Panax ginseng C. A. Meyer, a kind of Ginseng Radix) had superior activity to that of white ginseng (peeled and dried root of P. ginseng, another kind of Ginseng Radix) in a hair growth promoting assay using mouse vibrissal follicles in organ culture. Of the major constituents of P. ginseng, ginsenoside-Rb(1) (G-Rb(1)) exhibited activity, but ginsenoside-Rg(1) (G-Rg(1)) and -Ro (G-Ro) were ineffective. Additionally, 20(S)-ginsenoside-Rg(3) (20(S)-G-Rg(3)) formed by the processing of red ginseng from the crude root of P. ginseng also showed hair growth promoting activity. These results indicate that Ginseng Radix possesses hair growth promoting activity, and its bioactive components are partially attributable to the ginseng saponin components mentioned above.