This research observed that EGFR activity appears to maintain hair follicle quiescence and immune privilege, and its inhibition may lead to stem cell apoptosis and scarring alopecia during inflammation.
April 2023 in “The journal of investigative dermatology/Journal of investigative dermatology” This study reported that in mouse models, deletion of EGFR resulted in stem cell hyper-proliferation followed by apoptosis, leading to scarring alopecia, and implicated EGFR's role in maintaining hair follicle quiescence and immune privilege during inflammation.
April 2018 in “Rossiiskii Zhurnal Kozhnykh i Venericheskikh Boleznei” This study observed that patients with different types of alopecia exhibited variable epidermal thickness and consistent dermal changes, including hair follicle destruction and lymphohistiocytic infiltrates, which may suggest inflammation.
October 2023 in “bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)” This study demonstrated that disrupting EGFR signaling in mice leads to immune sensitivity compromising the hair follicle's protective environment, but JAK1/2 inhibition can restore this immune privilege and stimulate hair growth, suggesting a potential therapy for scarring hair loss diseases like cicatricial alopecia.
May 2018 in “Journal of dermatology and dermatitis” This review discusses the role of PRP in treating androgenetic alopecia and alopecia areata, but reports no new clinical results and emphasizes the potential of growth factor signaling as a future therapy.