Estetrol Prolongs Anagen in Healthy Female Scalp Hair Follicles by Positively Modulating Dermal Papilla Functions and Generation of Progenitor Stem Cells Ex Vivo
TLDR Estetrol may help prevent hair loss and promote hair growth in women.
The study evaluated the impact of the natural estrogen Estetrol (E4) on hair follicle function, using hair follicles from 4 healthy female donors over 50 years old. The results showed that E4 treatment increased the percentage of anagen (growing) hair follicles and hair matrix keratinocyte proliferation. E4 did not affect the size or cell density of the dermal papilla (DP), but it did reduce cell numbers in the DP stalk and dermal cup (DC), suggesting protection from DP fibroblast emigration. E4 also stimulated DP fibroblast inductivity and expanded the hair follicle stem cell progeny pool. These findings suggest that E4 could prevent catagen (regression) development and changes on DP and stem cell progenitors involved in hair follicle miniaturization, making it a potential treatment for hair loss disorders such as Female Pattern Hair Loss (FPHL).