Evaluation of Herbal Hair Lotion loaded with Rosemary for Possible Hair Growth in C57BL/6 Mice

Abstract

Background: Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) is a common household plant with needle-like leaves and white flowers that belongs to the family Lamiaceae and has various medicinal properties including ailments of hair and scalp, cardiovascular, nervous disorders, etc., In the current work, we have focused on formulation and evaluation of 1% hair lotion incorporated with methanolic extract of R. officinalis.

Materials and methods: The aerial parts of the plant were extracted with methanol and then the nature of phytochemicals were identified by chemical tests. It showed the presence of proteins, amino acids, fats and oils, steroids, glycosides, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, volatile oil, and vitamins. The extract was formulated to a suitable hair lotion and then evaluated for its various quality control parameters. Finally, the lotion was evaluated for hair growth promoting activity on C57BL/6 mice, using water as control and 2% minoxidil hair lotion as standard.

Results: It was observed that the formulated 1% herbal hair lotion passed all the evaluation parameters and showed a significant hair growth promoting activity than the standard drug-treated animals.

Conclusion: Although several researches have been carried out on the rosemary, an investigation on formulation of hair lotion adding the extract of the aerial part of the plant is for the first time. Since our formulation exhibited an excellent activity, it can be well thought out to be an alternative to the commercially available hair growth promoters with a lot of unwanted effects.

Keywords: C57BL6 mice; Rosmarinus officinalis; flavonoids; hair follicles; herbal formulation; minoxidil; skin pigmentation.

Figure 1

FTIR studies showing no drug excipient interactions. (a) Spectra of 1% herbal hair lotion incorporated with the methanolic extract of R. officinalis; (b) spectra of methanolic extract of R. officinalis; (c) spectra of physical mixture, and (d) spectra of excipients alone

Figure 2

Animals on the 0^th day, 1^st week, 2^nd week, 3^rd week, and 4^th week of treatment of C57BL/6 mice. (A) Shows animals belonging to Group I control (water) treated animals, (B) shows Group II is 1% herbal hair lotion incorporated with R. officinalis extract, and (C) shows group III is standard 2% minoxidil treated group of animals. On 0^th day, the shaved dorsal skin of C57BL/6 mice appeared pink in color which indicated that it was in telogenic phase. By first week, mice showed black pigmentation which indicated conversion of telogenic phase to anagen phase. Second week of treatment showed increase in pigmentation and hair growth confined to the proximal parts of C57BL/6 male mice treated with the 1% herbal hair lotion. Fourth week of treatment showed complete growth of hair on the dorsal skin of C57BL/6 mice which showed the conversion of telogen phase to anagen phase

Figure 3

Longitudinal section (LS) and transverse section (TS) of the skin of C57BL/6 mice stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain on the 0^th day, 1^st week, 2^nd week, 3^rd week, and 4^th week of treatment. (A) Shows skin section of animals belonging to Group I control (water) treated animals, (B) shows Group II is 1% herbal hair lotion incorporated with R. officinalis extract, and (C) shows group III is standard 2% minoxidil treated group of animals. ↑ Indicates the hair follicles and induction of anagen phase in telogenic C57BL/6 male mice treated by the 1% herbal hair lotion