Cholesterol promotes hair growth through activating sympathetic nerves and enhancing the proliferation of hair follicle stem cells

    March 2025 in “ Molecular Medicine
    Mengchen Guo, Junkun Jiang, Anke Zhang, Wenjing Yu, Xin Huang
    TLDR Cholesterol helps hair grow by activating nerves and boosting hair follicle stem cells.
    This study reveals that cholesterol promotes hair growth by activating the sympathetic nervous system and enhancing the proliferation of hair follicle stem cells (HFSCs) in C57BL/6 mice. Subcutaneous cholesterol injections led to increased hair regeneration, with more hair follicles entering the anagen phase. The activation of the PKA signaling pathway and phosphorylation of tyrosine hydroxylase were key mechanisms, stimulating the sympathetic nervous system and boosting HFSC proliferation. Ablation of sympathetic nerves reduced cholesterol's hair growth effects, highlighting the SNS's crucial role. These findings suggest that targeting cholesterol-mediated pathways could offer new therapeutic strategies for hair loss treatment.
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