CXCL12 Neutralizing Antibody Promotes Hair Growth in Androgenic Alopecia and Alopecia Areata
January 2024
in “
International Journal of Molecular Sciences
”
TLDR Blocking the protein CXCL12 with a specific antibody can increase hair growth in common hair loss conditions.
The study "CXCL12 Neutralizing Antibody Promotes Hair Growth in Androgenic Alopecia and Alopecia Areata" found that the chemokine CXCL12 plays a significant role in hair loss conditions such as androgenic alopecia (AGA) and alopecia areata (AA). The researchers discovered that CXCL12 was highly expressed in dermal fibroblasts (DFs) and its inhibition through a CXCL12 neutralizing antibody (αCXCL12) increased hair growth. In both AGA and AA models, αCXCL12 significantly induced hair growth and inhibited hair loss. The study also found that androgens and IFNγ increased the secretion of CXCL12, contributing to hair loss. The study involved various numbers of mice and samples in different experiments, with the largest being 10 control and 9 treated mice in the alopecia areata prevention experiment. The findings suggest that αCXCL12 could be a potential treatment for hair loss conditions.