In Vivo Hair Growth Promotion Effects of Ultra-High Molecular Weight Poly-γ-Glutamic Acid from Bacillus Subtilis (Chungkookjang)

The research conducted 8 years ago studied the effects of ultra-high molecular weight poly-γ-glutamic acid (UHMW γ-PGA) on hair growth. The in vitro experiment demonstrated that UHMW γ-PGA inhibited the activity of 5-alpha reductase, an enzyme that converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone, indicating its potential use in treating androgenetic alopecia. The in vivo experiment involved topically applying UHMW γ-PGA on the shaved skin of telogenic C57BL/6 mice for 4 weeks. The results showed that the groups treated with UHMW γ-PGA had hair growth on more than 50% of the shaved skin, while the control group had less hair growth. Histological observations showed that hair follicles appeared earlier and were more numerous in the UHMW γ-PGA-treated group than in the control group. This suggests that UHMW γ-PGA can promote hair growth by effectively inducing the anagen phase in telogenic C57BL/6 mice.