Anti-androgenic Activity of Myricae Cortex. Isolation of Active Constituents from Bark of Myrica rubra.

The study by Matsuda et al. from 2001 investigated the anti-androgenic properties of Myricae Cortex, the bark of Myrica rubra, and identified three active compounds: myricanol, myricanone, and myricetin. These compounds showed in vitro testosterone 5α-reductase inhibitory activity and in vivo anti-androgenic activity, as evidenced by the suppression of flank organ growth in castrated Syrian hamsters and inhibition of hair regrowth in testosterone-treated C57Black/6CrSlc mice. The study suggested that Myricae Cortex could be beneficial for preventing alopecia and promoting hair growth, with myricanol and myricanone demonstrating strong inhibitory potency with IC50 values of 3.7 and 3.8 mm, respectively. The in vivo experiments were conducted with 7-8 hamsters and 10-11 mice per data point, indicating a moderate sample size for the study.