Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Exp Dermatol. 2018 Sep;27(9):959-965. doi: 10.1111/exd.13690. Epub 2018 Jun 28.
Hair plays a large part in communication and society with its role changing through time and across cultures. Most people do not leave the house before combing their hair or shaving their beard and for many hair loss or irregular hair growth can have a significant impact on their psychological health. Somewhat unsurprisingly, according to GMR Data, today's global hair care industry is worth an estimated $87 Billion, with hair loss estimated at $2.8 Billion. Considering that no current hair loss-related products can completely reverse hair loss, it is reasonable to believe this market could expand significantly with the discovery of a comprehensive therapy. As such, a great deal of research focuses on overcoming hair loss, and in particular, a common form of hair loss known as androgenetic alopecia (AGA) or male pattern baldness. In AGA, hair follicles miniaturise in a large step change from a terminal to a vellus state. Within this viewpoint article, we discuss how influx and efflux of cells into and out from the dermal papilla (DP) can modulate DP size during the hair cycle. As DP size is positively correlated with the size of the hair fibre produced by a follicle, we argue here that therapies for treating AGA should be developed which can alter DP size, rather than just promote hair growth. We also discuss current therapeutics for AGA and emphasise the importance of using the right model systems to analyse miniaturisation.
头发在交流和社会中起着重要作用,其角色随着时间和文化的变化而变化。大多数人在出门前都会梳理头发或刮胡子,对于许多人来说,脱发或头发不规则生长会对他们的心理健康产生重大影响。根据 GMR Data 的数据,如今全球护发行业的价值估计为 870 亿美元,其中脱发估计为 28 亿美元。考虑到目前没有任何与脱发相关的产品能够完全逆转脱发,随着发现一种全面的疗法,这个市场有望大幅扩张,这是合理的。因此,大量的研究集中在克服脱发上,特别是一种常见的脱发形式,称为雄激素性脱发(AGA)或男性型秃发。在 AGA 中,毛囊从终末状态到毳毛状态发生大规模的小型化转变。在这篇观点文章中,我们讨论了细胞流入和流出真皮乳头(DP)如何在毛发周期中调节 DP 的大小。由于 DP 的大小与毛囊产生的毛发纤维的大小呈正相关,我们在这里认为,治疗 AGA 的疗法应该开发出来,可以改变 DP 的大小,而不仅仅是促进头发生长。我们还讨论了 AGA 的当前治疗方法,并强调了使用正确的模型系统来分析小型化的重要性。