2. Academic Validation
  3. Medicinal and edible plant Allium macrostemon Bunge for the treatment of testosterone-induced androgenetic alopecia in mice

Medicinal and edible plant Allium macrostemon Bunge for the treatment of testosterone-induced androgenetic alopecia in mice

  • J Ethnopharmacol. 2023 May 25;116657. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2023.116657.
Ruiyang Gao 1,  Zhilun Yu 1,  Cheng Lv 1,  Xiaolong Geng 1,  Yijing Ren 1,  Junyu Ren 1,  Hao Wang 1,  Fangbin Ai 1,  Beibei Zhang 1,  Bei Yue 2,  Zhengtao Wang 3,  Wei Dou 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 The MOE Key Laboratory of Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines, And the SATCM Key Laboratory of New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM), Shanghai, China.
  • 2 The MOE Key Laboratory of Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines, And the SATCM Key Laboratory of New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM), Shanghai, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 3 The MOE Key Laboratory of Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines, And the SATCM Key Laboratory of New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM), Shanghai, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
  • 4 The MOE Key Laboratory of Standardization of Chinese Medicines, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Compound Chinese Medicines, And the SATCM Key Laboratory of New Resources and Quality Evaluation of Chinese Medicines, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM), Shanghai, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 37244409 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2023.116657
Abstract

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Allium macrostemon Bunge (AMB), a widely distributed wild garlic plant, possesses a variety of health-promoting properties. Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is a common disorder that affects quality of life.

Aim of the study: We sought to investigate whether AMB stimulates hair regrowth in AGA mouse model, and clarify the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Materials and methods: The chemical constituents of AMB water extract were identified by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q/TOF-MS) analysis. Cell viability assay and Ki-67 immunostaining were undertaken to evaluate the impacts of AMB on human hair dermal papilla cell (HDPC) proliferation. Wound-healing assay was undertaken to assess cell migration. Flow cytometry and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assay were performed to examine cell Apoptosis. Western blotting, real-time reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and immunostaining assays were undertaken to determine the impacts of AMB on Wnt/β-catenin signaling and growth factors expression in HDPC cells. AGA mouse model was induced by testosterone treatment. The effects of AMB on hair regeneration in AGA mice were demonstrated by hair growth measuring and histological scoring. The levels of β-catenin, p-GSK-3β, and Cyclin D1 in dorsal skin were measured.

Results: AMB promoted proliferation and migration, as well as the expression of growth factors in cultured HDPC cells. Meanwhile, AMB restrained Apoptosis of HDPC cells by increasing the ratio of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2/pro-apoptotic Bax. Besides, AMB activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling and thereby enhancing growth factors expression as well as proliferation of HDPC cells, which was abolished by Wnt signaling inhibitor ICG-001. In addition, an increase of hair shaft elongation was observed in mice suffering from testosterone-induced AGA upon the treatment of AMB extract (1% and 3%). Consistent with the in vitro assays, AMB upregulated the Wnt/β-catenin signaling molecules in dorsal skin of AGA mice.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that AMB promoted HDPC cell proliferation and stimulated hair regrowth in AGA mice. Wnt/β-catenin signaling activation, which induced production of growth factors in hair follicles and, eventually, contributed to the influence of AMB on the hair regrowth. Our findings may contribute to effective utilization of AMB in alopecia treatment.

Keywords

Allium macrostemon; Androgenetic alopecia; Bunge; Hair follicle dermal papilla cells; Hair regrowth; Wnt/β-catenin.

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