Monthly Archives: October 2021

Foxc1, Nfatc1, Rui Yi, Stem Cells

Escaping Hair Follicle Stem Cells

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Dr. Rui Yi and his team from Northwestern University’s YiLab just published a groundbreaking new paper explaining the reason for aging related hair loss. The current findings were shown in various mammals.

Escaped hair stem cells.
Escaped stem cells in aging hair follicles. Source: Nature Aging (2021). Zhang, C., Wang, D., Wang, J. et al.

The Great Stem Cell Escape

The findings in this paper suggest that hair loss is not caused by stem cell death, depletion and exhaustion as has long been postulated. Rather, the stem cells escape from the structures that house them (i.e., the hair follicle bulge). The New York Times has an in-depth summary of these very interesting findings. Also see another take from Futurism.

In order to flee, the cells change their shapes from round to amoeba-like structures. Then they squeeze out of tiny holes in the follicle. Finally, they recover their normal shapes and dart away!

Of note, the researchers (led by Dr. Yi and his PhD student Chi Zhang) discovered two genes (Foxc1 and Nfatc1) that were less active in older aging hair follicle cells. The role of these two genes is to to “imprison” stem cells in the bulge. Note that Foxc1 stands for Forkhead Box C1. Nfatc1 stands for Nuclear Factor of Activated T Cells 1.

This study found a “hitherto unknown activity” of epithelial cells escaping from their niche during the aging process. This escape subsequently leads to stem cell degradation.

“If I did not see it for myself I would not have believed it. It’s almost crazy in my mind.” — Dr. Yi.

Foxc1 and Hair Loss

Note that I have covered Foxc1 in two past posts. The first (“COL17A1 damage and hair turning into skin“) covered a 2016 study whose co-author was also Dr. Rui Yi. Key quote:

“In self-renewing stem cells (SCs), Foxc1 activates Nfatc1 and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling.”

The second post covered a 2016 article from Dr. Elaine Fuchs. In it, she found that Foxc1 plays a critical role in hair follicle and hair color (melanocyte cell) stem cell regenerative capabilities.

Stem cells residing in hair follicles are held in an inactive state for long periods of time. The new findings showed that these quiescent periods are essential for maintaining the stem cells’ rejuvenating potential.

On a somewhat related note, Dr. Yi and his team also published a new paper in September 2021 in relation to miRNA and hair loss. I have added it in that related post.

Finasteride Injections, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, Finasteride Microspheres

Finasteride Injections for Hair Loss

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in 2019, South Korean Researchers successfully tested finasteride injections as a new potential treatment for hair loss. They developed a unique finasteride-loaded microspheres delivery system for these injections. I am updating this post due to new developments in this technology and clinical trial initiation in 2021 (see further below and h/t to “James”).

Finasteride Injections
Finasteride injections and hair growth.

The best part of this treatment is that you only need to get one injection treatment per month. While the initial research was in mice, the scientists seem to be confident that this will work in humans too.

Note that others have tried this in the past too.

  • One interesting successful test in Brazil in 2019 entailed injections containing a blend of minoxidil, finasteride, biotin, and D-panthenol.
  • A more extensive study was done in India in 2017. The results in this one found 10 percent of patients taking oral finasteride getting loss of libido; versus 5 percent of patients undergoing mesotherapy treatment with finasteride.

Finasteride Injections Superior to Oral Finasteride

Most importantly, the hair growth results from the finasteride-loaded microsphere injections were superior to those from oral finasteride. The injection group’s hair growth success rate was 93.3 percent, compared to the oral formulation group’s 86.7 percent. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels remained lower and comparable to oral finasteride even 10 weeks after a single injection.

Dr. Kim Beom-joon from Chung-Ang University Hospital led this work. The researchers also published an important related paper in June 2019 titled: “Development of finasteride polymer microspheres for systemic application in androgenic alopecia.”

The 5α-reductase inhibitory effect of the finasteride-loaded microspheres lasts for 4 to 8 weeks following one single injection. The injections and delivery technology are manufactured by Inventage Lab. Dr. Kim states that by minimizing the intake of finasteride, potential side effects such as erectile dysfunction and decreased libido would be reduced.

Update: Clinical trial page for IVL3001 finasteride injections from Inventage Lab.

Daewoong, Inventage Lab and Clinical Trials in 2021

In September 2021, Daewoong Pharmaceutical (South Korea) won approval to commence Phase 1 clinical trials for its finasteride injections in Australia. Their product is known “IVL3001”. These finasteride injections will be administered once every month to three months subcutaneously.

Daewoong aims to release this product in 2023, so there must be some way in which the trials will be allowed to proceed fast. IVL3001 is an injection formulation of finasteride-loaded polymer microspheres.

In June 2021, Daewoong reached an agreement with Inventage Lab to develop long-acting hair loss drugs using the latter’s controlled drug release technology. This drug delivery system (DDS) is known as IVL-PPFM and it facilitates production of microspheres with “controllably repeatable” sphere sizes.

We have all been waiting patiently for many years to get access to a reputable branded topical finasteride. Our best hope is Polichem and its P-3074, which was finally released in parts of Europe in 2021. Perhaps finasteride injections will turn out to be an even more effective hair loss treatment. Assuming side effects are negligible.

Dutasteride Injections

Note that in 2017, we already read about mesotherapy (injections) with dutasteride giving great hair growth results. I wrote another post on dutasteride injections in 2018. This treatment is especially popular in Spain.

I hope that in the near future, we can soon also get finasteride injections to treat our hair loss. Especially in clinics in the US. And down the road, via a delivery system designed by a professional biopharmaceutical company such as Daewoong.