Enhancement of Human Hair Growth Using Ecklonia cava Polyphenols

Abstract

Background: Ecklonia cava is a brown alga that contains various compounds, including carotenoids, fucoidans, and phlorotannins. E. cava polyphenols (ECPs) are known to increase fibroblast survival. The human dermal papilla cell (hDPC) has the properties of mesenchymal-origin fibroblasts.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effect of ECPs on human hair growth promotion in vitro and ex vivo.

Methods: MTT assays were conducted to examine the effect of ECPs on hDPC proliferation. Hair growth was measured using ex-vivo hair follicle cultures. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to evaluate the mRNA expression of various growth factors in ECP-treated hDPCs.

Results: Treatment with 10 µg/ml purified polyphenols from E. cava (PPE) enhanced the proliferation of hDPCs 30.3% more than in the negative control (p<0.001). Furthermore, 0.1 µg/ml PPE extended the human hair shaft 30.8% longer than the negative control over 9 days (p<0.05). Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) mRNA expression increased 3.2-fold in hDPCs following treatment with 6 µg/ml PPE (p<0.05). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA expression was also increased 2.0-fold by 3 µg/ml PPE (p<0.05). Treatment with 10 µg/ml PPE reduced oxidative stress in hDPCs (p<0.05).

Conclusion: These results suggest that PPE could enhance human hair growth. This can be explained by hDPC proliferation coupled with increases in growth factors such as IGF-1 and VEGF. Reducing oxidative stress is also thought to help increase hDPCs. These favorable results suggest that PPE is a promising therapeutic candidate for hair loss.

Keywords: Ecklonia cava; Hair; Insulin-like growth factor-I; Oxidative stress; Polyphenols; Vascular endothelial growth factor A.

Fig. 1. Thiazolyl blue assay to test the effect of Ecklonia cava polyphenols on human dermal papilla cell proliferation. (A) Dieckol, (B) phlorofurofucoeckol A (PF), (C) purified polyphenols from E. cava (PPE), (D) purified polyphenols from E. cava enriched with eckols (PPEE). Positive control, minoxidil 0.1 µM. ^*p<0.05 compared with the negative control.

Fig. 2. Time-course of hair growth (length) over 6 and 9 days. (A) Dieckol, (B) phlorofurofucoeckol A (PF), (C) purified polyphenols from Ecklonia cava (PPE), (D) purified polyphenols from E. cava enriched with eckols (PPEE). Positive control, minoxidil 1.0 µM. ^*p<0.05 compared with the negative control.

Fig. 3. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction for (A) IGF-1 and (B) VEGF in PPE-treated hDPCs. IGF-1: insulin-like growth factor-1, VEGF: vascular endothelial growth factor, hDPCs: human dermal papilla cells, PF: phlorofurofucoeckol A, PPE: purified polyphenols from Ecklonia cava, PPEE: purified polyphenols from E. cava enriched with eckols. ^*p<0.05, compared with the negative control.

Fig. 4. Oxidative stress in hDPCs was detected using DCF-DA and FACS was performed to measure the antioxidant effect of E. cava polyphenols. hDPCs: human dermal papilla cells, FACS: fluorescence-activated cell sorting, ROS: reactive oxygen species, PF: phlorofurofucoeckol A, PPE: purified polyphenols from Ecklonia cava, PPEE: purified polyphenols from E. cava enriched with eckols. ^*p<0.05 compared with the negative control.