Panax ginseng (PG) is one of the most famous traditional herbal medicines, and its major active
components are known as ginsenosides which have various pharmacological functions
[
1
,
2
]. It has been reported that PG promote hair growth in several mouse models by preventing
apoptosis of hair follicle cells and inhibiting 5α-reductase [
3
,
4
,
5
]. A recent clinical study showed that topical application of Korean red ginseng extract
with 3% minoxidil improved female pattern alopecia [
[6]
]. However, these previous studies were not sufficient to investigate the mechanism
and efficacy of PG on human hair growth. Minoxidil is the most widely-used topical
drug which is approved by FDA for hair loss treatment. It is known to promote hair
growth via stimulating circulation in the peripheral blood vessels around the hair
follicle by increasing the potassium channel opening and vascular endothelial growth
factor (VEGF) expression in dermal papilla cells [
[7]
]. It is known that PG also have a similar effect on reducing blood pressure like minoxidil
[
[8]
], so we investigated the hair growth effect of PG and its ginsenosides on the basis
that these would display similar mechanisms of minoxidil using human hair follicles.Keywords
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References
- Rb1 protects endothelial cells from hydrogen peroxide-induced cell senescence by modulating redox status.Biol Pharm Bull. 2011; 34: 1072-1077
- Anticancer effects of ginsenoside Rg1, cinnamic acid, and tanshinone IIA in osteosarcoma MG-63 cells: nuclear matrix downregulation and cytoplasmic trafficking of nucleophosmin.Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2008; 40: 1918-1929
- Panax ginseng prevents apoptosis in hair follicles and accelerates recovery of hair medullary cells in irradiated mice.In Vivo. 1998; 12: 219-222
- Promotion of hair growth by ginseng radix on cultured mouse vibrissal hair follicles.Phytother Res. 2003; 17: 797-800
- Effects of ginseng rhizome and ginsenoside Ro on testosterone 5α-reductase and hair re-growth in testosterone-treated mice.Phytother Res. 2012; 26: 48-53
- The efficacy of 3% minoxidil vs. combined 3% minoxidil and Korean red ginseng in treating female pattern alopecia.Int J Dermatol. 2014; 53: e340-e342
- Minoxidil: mechanisms of action on hair growth.Br J Dermatol. 2004; 150: 186-194
- Invited review, Botanical characteristics, pharmacological effects and medicinal components of Korean Panax ginseng C A Meyer.Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2008 Sep; : 29-30
- Effects of insulin and insulin-like growth factors on cultured human hair follicles: IGF-1 at physiologic concentrations is an important regulator of hair follicle.J Invest Dermatol. 1994; 102: 857-861
- In the absence of streptomycin, minoxidil potentiates the mitogenic effects of fetal calf serum, insulin-like growth factor 1, and platelet-derived growth factor on NIH 3T3 fibroblasts in a K+ channel-dependent fashion.J Invest Dermatol. 1996; 107: 229-234
Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 14, 2015
Received:
August 14,
2014
Footnotes
☆Funding source: The study was supported by grants from AMOREPACIFIC Corp. R&D Unit.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
