Cyclosporine A stimulated hair growth from mouse vibrissae follicles in an organ culture model

The study from 11 years ago found that Cyclosporine A (CsA) promoted hair growth in mouse vibrissae follicles in an organ culture model by inhibiting catagen-like development and stimulating matrix cell proliferation. This led to an increase in hair shaft elongation, with hair shafts growing at a rate of approximately 0.21 mm/day with 10^7 mol/L CsA treatment over 10 days, compared to 0.11 mm/day in the control group. The study, which used follicles from 20 C57BL/6 mice, also observed that CsA treatment increased the expression of growth factors such as VEGF, HGF, and NGF, while decreasing follistatin expression. The use of neutralizing antibodies against VEGF and HGF receptors suggested that these growth factors play a role in the hair growth effects of CsA. The findings indicate that CsA could be a potential agent for hair growth promotion, and the mouse vibrissae organ culture model is a useful tool for studying hair growth modulation.