Adipose-Derived Stem Cells and Hair Growth

Stem Cells

The human stem cell is one of nature’s most impressive creations. These super building blocks of life can differentiate into various other specialized cells or into yet other identical stem cells.  If they remain in an undifferentiated state, stem cells still go through numerous cycles of cell division.

There are two main types of stem cells:

  1. Embryonic stem cells that are derived from human embryos.
  2. Adult stem cells that are derived from living adults.

The latter are significantly less controversial than the former when it comes to medical research.  Adult stem cells are further divided into three main types based on source:

  1. Bone Marrow (requiring extraction from a bone).
  2. Adipose Tissue (i.e., lipid or fat cells, requiring extraction via liposuction).
  3. Blood (requiring extraction via a blood draw).

Adipose-Derived Stem Cells (ADSCs) and Hair Growth

Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are the focus of this post, since they have been the subject of numerous research papers in the hair growth field.  One can find summaries of a multitude of papers related to ADSCs and hair on PubMed.

When I read it a year or two ago, I found this 2012 paper from Japan quite interesting and encouraging due to its findings that ADSC condition medium resulted in hair growth in all 25 test patients!

However, at the time, I assumed that these results were most likely just a modest improvement on those from PRP. Moreover, it seemed to me that Histogen was doing something similar to ADSC injections into human scalps, but in a considerably superior way (with access to far more funding) via its Hair Stimulating Complex.

However, Histogen’s progress has not moved along as fast as hoped, while PRP results are in all likelihood not as significant or consistent as those from ADSC injections based on more studies that I have read on ADSC in the past few months.  It also makes intuitive sense that stem cells would give better results than just plasma.

The latest of these studies just came out a week ago and is a must read.  This one is yet again from Japan, and a full version is available here.  Both this 2015 study and the one that I posted earlier in this post from 2012 have the same two lead authors:  Dr. Hirotaro Fukuoka and Dr. Hirotaka Suga.  These two doctors are conducting their work at the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Kyorin University in Tokyo, Japan.

The conclusion of this latest study is worth quoting:

Treatment using adipose-derived stem cell-conditioned medium appears highly effective for alopecia and may represent a new therapy for hair regeneration.

It is also interesting that ADSCs contain IGF-1, covered in my last post.  One more important quote related to growth factors:

Adipose-derived stem cell-conditioned medium is rich in growth factors such as vascular endothelial growth factor, hepatocyte growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor, and insulin-like growth factor 1.

23 thoughts on “Adipose-Derived Stem Cells and Hair Growth”

  1. It seems like prof Colin jahoda is now researching about adipose cells his research is about relationship btw adipose stem cell and inductivity
    If his research now is in right direction it can be the final puzzle to get the cloned hair i think

    You can find related info at pubfacts and btt thread

          1. Ah you can find the last resesrch of Jahoda is about adipose cells at the link of pubfacts

            Sorry for my English cause i m Korean guy so

  2. This looks good admin.. But is this technique somethings thats been use already? Commercially, I mean

    1. Yes it seems like there are some doctors or HT surgeons already offering variations of this per Google, but I would not trust this until well known surgeons start advocating it. Also see my next upcoming blog post.

    1. First of all, congratulations for the blog administrator. Great blog.

      Then please Guest: read the conclusions of the article, NO scientific studies are meaningless, as the findings of the study say: highly effective treatment. PRP is available in clinics. This treatment seems to indicate that in the very near future too. And if not, Pilofocus, CB 03-01 Bimatoprost, SM … and others.

      Regards.

  3. The only “cure” is a transplant. All of these other treatments are just going to crumble away like they always do. Replicel, if it worked/works, would supposedly stop future Hairloss. I wouldn’t get hopes up in all of these studies because we all know they never materialize.

    1. It is materializing and yes. If replicel works…. Its a supposed to be a one time treatment for permenent halting of hair and some regrowth.. But time is gold. And every year replicel isnt here.. = more time for follocles to become fibrotic in which case i really doubt even replicel will work well.

    2. “Replicel, if it worked/works, would supposedly stop future Hairloss.”

      A successful Replicel treatment will develop new hair follicles, in addition to replacing existing hormone-compromised hair-follicle cells in the bald areas.

  4. True. but hair loss is not on the decline.. quite the contrary. more men AND women are losing hair at a much younger age.better times are coming because our superficial needs will be that of so many people that a solution will come quick.

    1. I think the percent of people with hair loss has also increased over the years, and one of my barbers said the same to me a few years ago.

  5. Bonjour Admin,

    Excellent billet et excellentes nouvelles. J’ai lu l’étude et c’est prometteur. As-tu une idée si leur produit va être commercialisé dans un futur proche ?

    Merci encore pour ton travail.

    1. Merci encore pour les aimables paroles William. Voir mon prochain post pour plus sur le produit sud-coréen utilisé dans ces deux études japonaises. Il semble aussi que certains chirurgiens et les médecins sont déjà offerring variations de ce type de procédure, mais je ne suis pas encore à 100 pour cent sûr si ce est la même chose.

      1. Merci de ta réponse, Admin.

        Je vais essayer de te poser ma question en anglais.

        I read last night once more the 2012 japanese paper. The results are quite impressive. It is said that the treatment lasted 6 months and the patients got injections approximatively once a month (i.e. every 3 to 5 weeks).

        The follow-up examination lasted 2 years after the begining of the treatment which means that the patients had at least 18 months of growth.

        So my question is the following : do we need to undergo a treatment just for six monts or will we have to do it again after few years and so on ? Is it permanent or not ?

        My very best regards.

  6. Hi William,

    With AAPE, I would think the treatment is not permanent since they are just growth factors (a bit like PRP, but superior).

    With ADSC, I would think it can be permanent, but not enough doctors are doing this at the moment to know for sure. You can try to contact doctors offering SVF to know more. See my next post titled “AAPE” for more on SVF.

    1. Yes, I believe AAPE and the like would require treatments every 3-5 years or something like that. Si vous employent souvent il ya je crois le succes.

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