A Hot New Twist to Hair Biology: The Role of TRPV1 in Human Hair Growth Control

April 2005 in “ The American journal of pathology (Print) ”

Enikő Bodó, Tamás Bı́ró, Andrea Telek, Gabriella Czifra, Zoltán Griger, Balázs Tóth, Alessandra Mescalchin, Taisuke Ito, Albrecht Bettermann, László Kovács, Ralf Paus

vanilloid receptor-1 TRPV1 capsaicin hair follicle hair shaft elongation cell proliferation apoptosis hair follicle regression transforming growth factor-ß₂ TGF-B₂ hair growth inhibitor

TLDR Capsaicin, found in chili peppers, can slow down hair growth by affecting skin cells and hair follicles.

The document from 2005 explores the role of the vanilloid receptor-1 (TRPV1) in human hair growth control. TRPV1, activated by capsaicin, was found to be expressed in human skin cells, including those in the hair follicle. The study showed that TRPV1 activation inhibits hair shaft elongation, suppresses cell proliferation, induces apoptosis, and leads to premature hair follicle regression. It also affects the expression of hair growth regulators, including up-regulating transforming growth factor-ß₂ (TGF-B₂), a known hair growth inhibitor. The findings suggest that TRPV1 could be a target for treating hair growth disorders and indicate its physiological importance extends to skin and hair follicle biology, beyond pain perception.

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