Hair Growth-Promoting Effects of Adiponectin In Vitro
June 2012
in “
Journal of Investigative Dermatology
”
TLDR Adiponectin may stimulate hair growth and could be a potential treatment for promoting hair growth.
The study from December 2012 examined the role of adiponectin (APN) in hair growth by treating human anagen hair follicles from the occipital scalp of 7 volunteers with APN. A total of 350 hair follicles were analyzed over 6 days. The results showed that APN has a dose-dependent hair growth-promoting effect, enhances the proliferation of matrix keratinocytes as evidenced by increased Ki-67 immunoreactivity, and stimulates the secretion of growth factors like IGF-1, hepatocyte growth factor, and VEGF from dermal papilla cells. Conversely, APN reduced the secretion of transforming growth factor-β1. The study concluded that APN could be a stimulator of hair growth and that targeting APN receptors might be a viable approach for hair growth promotion in clinical settings, although further in vivo research is necessary to fully understand APN's role and clinical potential.