Curcumin, Apigenin promote hair growth

Abstract
Androgen-inducible transforming growth factor β (TGF-β1) derived from dermal papilla cells (DPCs) is a catagen inducer that mediates hair growth suppression in androgenetic alopecia (AGA). In this study, a cell-based assay system was developed to monitor TGF-β1 promoter activity and then used to evaluate the effects of activated TGF-β1 promoter in human epidermal keratinocytes (HaCaT). To accomplish this, a pMetLuc-TGF-β1 promoter plasmid that expresses the luciferase reporter gene in response to TGF-β1 promoter activity was constructed.
Treatment of HaCaT with dihydrotestosterone, which is known to be a primary factor of AGA, resulted in a concentration-dependent increase in TGF-β1 promoter activity. However, treatment of HaCaT with the TGF-β1 inhibitor, curcumin, resulted in a concentration-dependant decrease in TGF-β1 expression. Subsequent use of this assay system to screen TGF-β1 revealed that HaCaT that were treated with apigenin showed decreased levels of TGF-β1 expression. In addition, treatment with apigenin also significantly increased the proliferation of both SV40T-DPCs (human DPCs) and HaCaT cells. Furthermore, apigenin stimulated the elongation of hair follicles in a rat vibrissa hair follicle organ culture. Taken together, these findings suggest that apigenin, which is known to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties, stimulates hair growth through downregulation of the TGF-β1 gene. In addition, these results suggest that this assay system could be used to quantitatively measure TGF-β1 promoter activity in HaCaT, thereby facilitating the screening of agents promoting hair growth.

Keywords TGF-β1 - Hair growth - Apigenin - Dermal papilla cell - Hair follicle

Chrysanthemum morifolium extract (CME) has the protective effect on cardiovascular diseases. Luteolin and apigenin are two major bioactive components in vivo when CME is orally administrated to experimental animal. The present paper shows the study of the absorption and excretion of luteolin and apigenin in rats after a single oral dose of CME (200 mg/kg). The levels of luteolin and apigenin in plasma, urine, feces, and bile were measured by HPLC after deconjugation with hydrochloric acid or β-glucuronidase/sulfatase. The results showed that the plasma concentrations of luteolin and apigenin reached the highest peak level at 1.1 and 3.9 h after dosing, respectively. The area under the concentration−time curves (AUC) for luteolin and apigenin were 23.03 and 237.6 μg h mL-1, respectively. The total recovery of the dose was 37.9% (6.6% in urine; 31.3% in feces) for luteolin and 45.2% (16.6% in urine; 28.6% in feces) for apigenin. The cumulative luteolin and apigenin excreted in the bile was 2.05% and 6.34% of the dose, respectively. All of the results suggest apigenin may be absorbed more efficiently than luteolin in CME in rats, and both luteolin and apigenin have a slow elimination phase, with a quick absorption, so a possible accumulation of the two flavonoids in the body can be hypothesized.

Pure Apigenin is a yellow crystalline solid. It is sparingly soluble in aqueous buffers,but soluble in organic solvent such as ethanol DMSO and dimethyl formamide.It is suggested to be stored at -20℃,then it should be stable for at least two years.

mphatesmpb wrote:

Pure Apigenin is a yellow crystalline solid. It is sparingly soluble in aqueous buffers,but soluble in organic solvent such as ethanol DMSO and dimethyl formamide.It is suggested to be stored at -20℃,then it should be stable for at least two years.

CS, do you think that dissolving apigenin in DMSO might make for a good topical?