An interesting new hair loss related study was published two days ago, with the lengthy title below limiting its virality:
It was also covered in New Scientist, but hidden behind a paywall. The key phenomena behind hair regrowth that were discussed in the study entail skin injury, adipocytes (fat cells) and fatty acids. But the New Scientist article title focused on the skin irritation aspect.
Note that I have discussed the concept of skin injury (or intentional wounding) and hair growth numerous times on this blog, especially related to now defunct Follica. Also check out my post on at-home microneedling for hair growth. I have also written many posts on fat cells and adipocyte-derived stem cells in relation to hair growth.
Skin Injury, Adipocyte Lipolysis and Hair Growth in 20 Days
No-one paid attention to the above mentioned new study till today. As is so often the case, this is due to coverage by the widely read Daily Mail in a catchy title that suggests a hair loss cure in 20 days. To be fair, they do mention in the title that it was in mice.
- Spurred to do further research, I then realized that I had covered the lead author of this new study (Dr. Sung-Jan Lin of National Taiwan University) in a 2020 update to my post on the arrector piil muscle.
- Moreover, all the way back in 2014, I covered Taiwan National University Hospital’s study on hair cloning (under the leadership of the same Dr. Sung-Jan Lin).
- Even more interesting, one of the co-authors of this study is the renowned hair loss researcher Dr. Maxim Plikus. Giving it all the more legitimacy.
Getting back to the study, the scientists induced eczema (aka the injury or irritation) on shaved mice of both sexes. They did this by applying a chemical irritant called sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to their backs. Lo and behold, in 11 days, the treated areas of skin started to sprout new hair from follicles that are just a fraction of a millimeter wide. At the same time, hair didn’t regrow on the areas of the mice without eczema. The hair also didn’t grow in other shaved mice that were never treated with SDS.
The researchers found that the irritant causes immune cells to move into the layer of fat beneath a mouse’s skin. This in turn signals fat cells (adipocytes) to release fatty acids which are then absorbed by hair follicle stem cells. Ultimately triggering hair growth. The intentional injury triggers adipocyte lipolysis, which in turn activates epithelial stem cells for hair regeneration through fatty acid metabolic signaling.
A new Fatty Acid base Serum for Treating Hair Loss
The most interesting part is what the researchers did next. They tested various monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) on skin without the use of any chemical irritant. They created rub-on serums made of different fatty acids (such as oleic acids and palmitoleic acids) dissolved in alcohol. To my surprise, the researchers found that these fatty acids were effective in promoting hair regeneration, even when applied to the skin without any preceding irritant.
They have patented their serum and now plan to test different dosages of it on people’s scalps. Since oleic acids and palmitoleic acids are naturally derived fatty acids, they are safe and side effect free. No clinical trials will be required to sell this product as a hair loss cosmetic.
The Taiwanese team is already seeing promising results when applying it to human hair follicles in their lab. And Mr. Lin applied it to his thighs and gave the following quote:
“I personally applied these fatty acids, dissolved in alcohol, on my thighs for three weeks and I found it promoted hair regrowth”
Of course my gut feeling based on over 12 years of writing this blog is that this will not translate into any significant scalp hair regrowth in humans. Perhaps some minor hair thickening, as can be seen when using the best hair loss shampoos, some of which even contain plant-derived oleic acids and palmitoleic acids.
I wonder… but if the oily concoction discovered in Taiwan works and is safe, why isn’t it immediately put on the market?
I agree Lorance. If the fatty acids are safe and side effect free why didn’t Dr Lin put it on his head and take a picture,instead he put it on his leg
Because he is a Norwoood 0. Full head of hair. And they still need to figure out the doses. They gonna test it on humans first.
Well the thing is you could easily prepare those „fatty acids“ yourself or by a compunding pharmacy, just look it up in the paper.
All ingredients are buyable and there‘s no patent holding back anything.
But I highly doubt this does amount to anything. It reminds me of that sugar research last year, or Amplifica‘s claims, or Cosmerna and possibly Mallia soon.
All had convincing in vitro results, or mice tests. Nothing groundbreaking but definitely worth to pursue (especially Amplifica).
Eventually it was used by people and it’s always the same: zero regrowth plus 3 hairs on the whole scalp. Invisible to the bare eye. Sometimes even inferior to placebo. Nobody pays money for that.
I am still hopeful for Amplifica, but I fear they burned through all their funds.
Yeah right, this immediately reminded me of this Mangrove Tree story. Chula University claimed they will bring it to global market within a year. Now years later still nothing. Well they still show the pictures on their website.
Yet another study validating Follica’s approach, and yet they gave up. It’s so disappointing. Of course we can try to replicate their protocol, but nothing done at home can come close to the precision they were achieving in clinic. I’d love to know why they came to that decision.
Cancer I reckon.
I’m not sure what you mean, but if you mean that the protocol produced cancer, that’s impossible – the protocol was a very precise form of micro-needling combined with minoxidil. They spent so much time (almost two decades) and money developing a proprietary medical device, building a website, partnering with clinics, and then shut it all down.
If there are any biotech PE fund managers out there, buy the IP from Puretech for pennies on the dollar, roll it out, and make a 100x profit.
Someone would need to try a combination of microneedling + applying their serum and sharing the results in 3+ months time.
I saw that study on pubmed, as I follow Plikus closely. He always comes across as a true researcher and scholar, which I appreciate. There’s been many grifters in the sphere, he‘s not one of them.
I have the suspicion that this research is a direct result from Amplifica‘s conclusions, although they are not mentioned.
Here‘s the results from the study:
„Through this skin injury-induced hair growth phenomenon, we identify monounsaturated FAs as potent inducers of hair regeneration. Mammalian skin’s formidable barrier function significantly limits transcutaneous penetration of most hydrophilic substances, hampering the efficacy of many topically administered drugs.92 Given their inherent hydrophobicity and skin penetration-enhancing effect, monounsaturated FAs are promising pharmaceutical candidates for topical delivery. Supported by our experimental results, demonstrating hair growth activation upon topical application of monounsaturated FAs, their natural existence and established safety profile suggest considerable potential for treating hair loss conditions in the future.“
That sounds pretty positive? But Amplifica‘s statements were similar…
@admin: I couldn’t find any commercial plans from these people? Is there anything in the pipeline?
In the Daly Mail link, in the bottom half, they mention the fatty acid serum development and marketing plans (no initial injury or intentional wounding needed).
The fact that hair grew on Mr. Lin’s thighs from the serum is interesting if true. See his quote in the bottom part of this post.
I remain a huge skeptic, though I put in 3 hours of time to write this post!
Thank you for your dedication to the page, administrator. The time and knowledge you’ve put into this topic are admirable! I hope we can solve this problem someday.
Thanks, and also thanks to AR who first emailed me the Daily Mail link earlier today.
Admin, Fantastic news. One of these days, something that works for mice has to eventually work for humans too! We’re overdue for some luck :-) Maybe this serum plus PP405 could get follicles going on dormant skin again. Thanks for always making the latest news so easy to keep track of. It’s always great to know of new developments.