Costunolide promotes the proliferation of human hair follicle dermal papilla cells and induces hair growth in C57BL/6 mice.

J Cosmet Dermatol. 2018 May 28. doi: 10.1111/jocd.12674. [Epub ahead of print]
Costunolide promotes the proliferation of human hair follicle dermal papilla cells and induces hair growth in C57BL/6 mice.
Kim YE1, Choi HC1, Nam G2, Choi BY3.

BACKGROUND:
Costunolide (COS), a naturally occurring sesquiterpene lactone, is known to exert anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer effects. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of costunolide on the promotion of hair growth.

METHODS:
Real-time cell analyzer (RTCA), measurement of 5α-reductase activity, mRNA expression, and Western blotting were adopted to address whether COS can stimulate the proliferation of human hair follicle dermal papilla cells (hHFDPCs). The effect of COS on in vivo hair growth was examined by reconstitution assay and shaven dorsal skin in C57BL/6 mice.

RESULTS:
Costunolide significantly promoted the proliferation of hHFDPCs, which is comparable to that of tofacitinib. COS also inhibited the 5α-reductase activity in hHFDPCs. While COS increased the level of β-catenin and Gli1 mRNA and proteins, it suppressed transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-induced phosphorylation of Smad-1/5 in hHFDPCs. COS increased the number of cultured hHFDPCs to induce hair follicles from mouse epidermal cells in Spheres formation of reconstitution assay. Topical application of COS on the shaven back of C57BL/6 mice significantly improved the hair growth.

CONCLUSIONS:
Our results illustrate that COS promotes hair growth in vitro and in vivo by regulating the amount of growth factors and/or the activity of cellular responses through coordination of the WNT-β-catenin, hedgehog-Gli, and TGF-β1-Smad pathways.

I hate these studies. They get your hopes up high but never tell you just how it was done. Is this costunolide readily available in health stores? Or did the researchers have to make it themselves. What strength or concentration was it? How many mls was used on the mice? Was it rubbed onto the shaven skin once, twice, three times a day? That study doesn't really say all these nitty gritty details. So in the end it is quite useless to us if we want to try it ourselves.

shaftless wrote:I hate these studies. They get your hopes up high but never tell you just how it was done. Is this costunolide readily available in health stores? Or did the researchers have to make it themselves. What strength or concentration was it? How many mls was used on the mice? Was it rubbed onto the shaven skin once, twice, three times a day? That study doesn't really say all these nitty gritty details. So in the end it is quite useless to us if we want to try it ourselves.

I posted just the abstract, but no worries, here's the full study:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/jocd.12674

Regarding Costunolide, no it's not readily available (except for commercial purposes), however the less potent version is well known simply as Burdock root (and yes it does help).

https://www.iherb.com/pr/Now-Foods-Burdock-Root-430-mg-100-Capsules/1106?=hil335

I hate those studies LOL. You almost have to be a neurosurgeon to understand all that. Ok now that they know there is a beneficial effect from this costunolide, can there be an easy application of it to our scalps without having to go thru all that rigamarole?

shaftless wrote:I hate those studies LOL. You almost have to be a neurosurgeon to understand all that. Ok now that they know there is a beneficial effect from this costunolide, can there be an easy application of it to our scalps without having to go thru all that rigamarole?

This is one of the more interesting studies I've read in a few months. I try to read all of them and have for the last two decades.

The study spoke about topical use, however there's absolutely nothing wrong with taking Burdock root internally.

For example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4196076/

As per usual, these study authors purposefully use Latin and uber technical jargon to dissuade layman, either that or jargon speak becomes a second language to them.

Anyway, this study just above is about burdock root. Internal use in my view is superior to topical because systemic effects are longer lasting.

CausticSymmetry wrote:

shaftless wrote:I hate those studies LOL. You almost have to be a neurosurgeon to understand all that. Ok now that they know there is a beneficial effect from this costunolide, can there be an easy application of it to our scalps without having to go thru all that rigamarole?

This is one of the more interesting studies I've read in a few months. I try to read all of them and have for the last two decades.

The study spoke about topical use, however there's absolutely nothing wrong with taking Burdock root internally.

For example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4196076/

As per usual, these study authors purposefully use Latin and uber technical jargon to dissuade layman, either that or jargon speak becomes a second language to them.

Anyway, this study just above is about burdock root. Internal use in my view is superior to topical because systemic effects are longer lasting.

How did you learn to read all that technical jargon? Any tips? sometimes its exhausting

Hi, no real advise on this one. I've studied medicine since the mid-90's (initially because I wanted to understand how to solve hair loss). Now it's just to keep up to date with practitioner work.

Just constant reading, kind of like learning a language.

Can someone tell me a source where it says costumolide content of burdock root? I cant find any reference

bocor wrote:Can someone tell me a source where it says costumolide content of burdock root? I cant find any reference

Here's another source

Saussurea Lappa therapeutic grade oil (probably good for topical use)

https://amzn.to/2t3WKrV