September 2017 | Hair Loss Cure 2020

A little over a month ago, a new groundbreaking study came out of UCLA that found that increasing lactate production in mice via the use of two different topical drugs led to increased hair growth both times (through hair stem cell activation). As I detailed in my post on that discovery, the two drugs are known as RCGD423 and UK5099. Both drugs act via entirely different mechanisms, and UCLA has filed separate patents for the use of each for hair growth purposes.

The scientists that led this research were Dr. Heather Christofk and Dr. William Lowry. Both run their own labs at UCLA, and the latter is listed as “post-doc” with the famous hair researcher Dr. Elaine Fuchs. Several weeks ago, a reader who wants to be known as “HLprevention” got in touch with Dr. Christofk, and then sent me her e-mail address and told me to get in touch with her. He thought that she would be willing to participate in an interview. I did as suggested, and Dr. Christofk has agreed to answer reader questions.

Please only post relevant questions, thoughts and concerns in this post, and continue to post unrelated comments in the last post.

UCLA has now been added to the list of research centers around the world working on a hair loss cure.

Hair loss news first:

— The same Ohio State University (OSU) doctor who amazed us recently with this breakthrough from his lab is now making claims about hair regeneration from palm tocotrienol complex. I am highly skeptical, but still willing to keep a track of his work because of the OSU affiliation. Tocotrienols are a form of vitamin E.

— Who else but “nasa_rs” notifying me that Aclaris Therapeutics finally updated their pipeline page. The most interesting part is that they now term their topical JAK inhibitor for androgenetic alopecia (AGA) as a “soft” JAK inhibitor (no surprise), and they term AGA as an “inflammatory” skin disorder. I have theorized for a while that perhaps people who have major itching and dandruff associated with their male pattern hair loss might be suffering from significant inflammation. Therefore, if topical covalently bound JAK inhibitors work for AGA, perhaps they will help those with itchy scalps much more than those without. Aclaris has also started a CEO blog on its site.

— Perhaps of even more importance, Dr. Tsuji/Kyocera/RIKEN partner Organ Technologies also updated or renewed their website (h/t Fuji Maru Kagurazaka) recently. On their hair follicle regeneration page (after translation), they state:

“We are currently pursuing research and development with a view to clinical application of hair follicle regeneration as the world’s first organ regeneration in humans in 2018”

As an aside, whatever has happened to our invaluable Japanese correspondent/informant “nosyu”? Hope he comes back some day.

— Of least significance, but nevertheless worth mentioning, Follica finally added text to the bios of some of their new team members including Dr. Dhurat.

— Dr. Koray Erdogan.

— Interesting article on the travails of hair loss in UK paper Mosaic.

— Androgen receptors have become an increasing area of focus in the hair loss world. A new paper on androgens and androgen receptor action in skin and hair follicles.

— Topical tofacitinib possibly promoting hair growth via VEGF growth factor induction. This is the kind of research that keeps me interested in both JAK inhibitors and platelet-rich plasma (PRP).

— Generation of iPS-derived model cells for analyses of hair shaft differentiation.