Hair Growth Promotion by Delta-Opioid Receptor Activation

The study "Hair Growth Promotion by δ-Opioid Receptor Activation" found that activating δ-opioid receptors (DOR) can promote hair growth. This was tested on mice and human hair follicles in vitro. The activation of DOR led to an increase in the anagen phase of hair growth, the active growth phase, by using a DOR agonist, UFP-512. This agonist increased the proliferation of hair follicle cells and decreased their apoptosis. The study also found that UFP-512 activated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which is important for hair follicle regeneration and hair shaft growth. The results suggest that DOR plays a key role in regulating the hair growth cycle and that DOR agonists could potentially be used to promote hair growth.