TLDR Human hair proteins can help blood clot when mixed in equal parts.
The study aimed to evaluate the impact of different keratin fractions on keratin-mediated fibrinogen precipitation and optimize the use of human hair keratin for hemostasis. The team extracted soluble keratin intermediate filaments (KIFs) and keratin-associated proteins (KAPs) from hair samples and investigated their effects on fibrinogen precipitation. The results showed that while thrombin demonstrated greater hemostatic properties than most hair protein mixtures, pre-incubated hair proteins or their combinations could still precipitate fibrinogen in the absence of thrombin. The study concluded that two distinct types of keratin, KAPs and KIFs, from human hair exhibit unique characteristics and hemostatic capacity to precipitate fibrinogen when mixed in various ratios.
11 citations,
November 2021 in “ACS applied nano materials” Keratin-associated protein nanoparticles from human hair may help stop bleeding quickly and safely.
41 citations,
November 2020 in “Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces” Different hair protein amounts change the strength of keratin/chitosan gels, useful for making predictable tissue engineering materials.
8 citations,
June 2020 in “Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces” Heating hair proteins changes their structure and may improve their blood clotting ability.
25 citations,
May 2019 in “Heliyon” Hair treatments cause significant structural changes, especially with excessive heat, regardless of ethnicity.
14 citations,
April 2016 in “PloS one” The KRTAP11-1 gene promoter is crucial for specific expression in sheep wool cortex.
115 citations,
August 2014 in “Jo'jig gonghag gwa jaesaeng uihag/Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine” Human hair keratin can be used in many medical applications.
517 citations,
February 2010 in “Materials” Keratin from hair and wool is used in medical materials for healing and drug delivery.
5 citations,
January 2019 in “Elsevier eBooks” Current therapies cannot fully regenerate adult skin without scars; more research is needed for scar-free healing.
1160 citations,
November 2018 in “Physiological Reviews” The document concludes that better targeted treatments are needed for wound healing, and single-cell technologies may improve cell-based therapies.
2 citations,
June 2023 in “Pharmaceutics” Nanofiber scaffolds help wounds heal by delivering drugs directly to the injury site.
73 citations,
August 2011 in “Stem Cell Research” Human hair follicle stem cells can turn into multiple cell types but lose some of this ability after being grown in the lab for a long time.
8 citations,
June 2020 in “Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces” Heating hair proteins changes their structure and may improve their blood clotting ability.
