DSM Nutritional Products, Personal Care & Aroma, Kaiseraugst, Switzerland.
Monasterium Laboratory, Münster, Germany.
Int J Cosmet Sci. 2022 Jun;44(3):363-376. doi: 10.1111/ics.12783. Epub 2022 Jun 6.
Hair loss and reduction in hair volume are hallmarks of hair disorders, such as telogen effluvium, or male or female pattern hair loss, and hair ageing, which can cause severe distress in both men and women. Common anti-hair loss drugs carry some side effects; therefore, novel, safer approaches targeting milder phenotypes are highly advocated. In this context, we investigated an extract of the alpine plant Edelweiss, Leontopodium alpinum var. Helvetia, for its ability to modulate hair follicle (HF) growth ex vivo and inhibit hair loss while increasing hair regeneration in vivo.
Human amputated HFs were microdissected from three donors, two women and one man, and cultured ex vivo for 6 days. After treatment with 0.001% Edelweiss extract (EWDE), we investigated hair shaft production and anagen/catagen conversion, and measured known parameters associated with hair growth, that is hair matrix keratinocyte proliferation and apoptosis, dermal papilla inductivity, and growth factors, by quantitative (immuno)histomorphometry. To assess the anti-hair loss potential of the alpine plant compound, we performed a randomized, placebo-controlled human study enrolling Caucasian women and men, aged 18 to 65 years, with normal hair loss. After 5 months' daily use of an extract containing leave-on serum, we analysed hair density and anagen-to-catagen/telogen ratio by the Trichogram analysis.
Our results revealed a significant prolongation in the anagen phase in HFs treated with 0.001% Edelweiss, as indicated by an increase in HFs remaining in anagen and a significant decrease in hair cycle score. In line with this effect, EWDE significantly stimulated hair matrix (HM) keratinocyte proliferation, and dermal papilla inductivity, as shown by a significant up-regulation of versican expression and alkaline phosphatase activity, and a tendential increase in FGF7 immunoreactivity in the dermal papilla of all HFs or only anagen VI HFs. Corroborating the ex vivo results, we observed a significant increase in growing hair shaft numbers (hair density) after treatment with Edelweiss extract formulation, and a tendential up-regulation in the anagen-to-catagen/telogen ratio.
We show here, through several lines of evidence, that the selected extract of the alpine plant Leontopodium alpinum var Helvetia (Edelweiss) inhibits premature catagen induction, possibly by stimulating dermal papilla inductivity. It is therefore worth exploiting this extract clinically as an anti-hair loss agent, both for preventing ageing-associated hair shedding and as an adjuvant therapy for hair loss disorders.
脱发和头发体积减少是毛发疾病的特征，如休止期脱发、男性或女性型脱发和毛发老化，这会给男性和女性带来严重的困扰。常见的抗脱发药物有一些副作用；因此，针对较温和表型的新型、更安全的方法受到高度推崇。在这种情况下，我们研究了高山植物雪绒花的提取物，即 Leontopodium alpinum var. Helvetia，以研究其在体外调节毛囊 (HF) 生长、抑制脱发和体内增加毛发生长的能力。
从两名女性和一名男性三位供体中微分离人截肢 HF，在体外培养 6 天。用 0.001%雪绒花提取物 (EWDE) 处理后，我们通过定量（免疫）组织形态计量学研究了毛干产生和生长期/退行期转换，并测量了与毛发生长相关的已知参数，即毛基质角质形成细胞增殖和细胞凋亡、真皮乳头诱导性和生长因子。为了评估高山植物化合物的抗脱发潜力，我们进行了一项随机、安慰剂对照的人类研究，招募了年龄在 18 至 65 岁之间、有正常脱发的白种人男性和女性。经过 5 个月每天使用含有免洗血清的提取物后，我们通过 Trichogram 分析评估了头发密度和生长期/退行期比例。
我们的结果显示，0.001%雪绒花处理的 HF 中，生长期明显延长，这表现为处于生长期的 HF 数量增加，以及毛发周期评分显著下降。与这种作用一致，EWDE 显著刺激毛基质 (HM) 角质形成细胞增殖和真皮乳头诱导性，这表现为 versican 表达和碱性磷酸酶活性显著上调，以及所有 HF 或仅生长期 VI HF 的真皮乳头中 FGF7 免疫反应性呈上升趋势。体外结果得到证实，经雪绒花提取物处理后，生长中的毛干数量（头发密度）显著增加，生长期/退行期比例呈上升趋势。
通过几条证据线，我们在这里表明，选定的高山植物 Leontopodium alpinum var Helvetia（雪绒花）提取物通过刺激真皮乳头诱导性抑制过早退行期诱导，因此值得将其作为抗脱发剂在临床上进行开发，既可以预防与衰老相关的脱发，也可以作为脱发疾病的辅助治疗。
