Investigation of Antioxidant Activity of Cynanchi Wilfordii Radix and Inhibitory Effect of 5α-Reductase mRNA in Human Dermal Papilla Cells

The study conducted 6 years ago investigated the antioxidant activity of Cynanchi Wilfordii Radix (CWR) and its effects on human dermal papilla (DP) cells. The research found that CWR has strong antioxidant activity and increased cell viability of DP cells by 118.5% when treated with 0.5 mg/ml CWR for 24 hours. However, it did not significantly affect cell numbers, suggesting that CWR increases mitochondrial activity without promoting cell proliferation. The treatment also resulted in a 48.5% reduction of mRNA expression of type 2 5α-reductase, a major cause of male hair loss. Furthermore, mRNA expression of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), fibroblast growth factor (FGF)7, and FGF10, which are closely related to hair growth, was also decreased. The study concluded that the antioxidant efficacy of CWR could effectively remove reactive oxygen species (ROS), a cause of hair loss, and its inhibitory effect on type 2 5α-reductase mRNA could have a positive therapeutic effect on male pattern hair loss.