Wirkungsstudie jena hautmodell_en.indd

Conducted at the Clinic for Dermatology and Dermatological Allergology Effectiveness Study
of the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena Caffeine Complex Is Effective in the
Treatment of Androgenetic Alopecia
Short Version of a Report on Studies Performed in a Hair Or-
gan Culture Model (HOCM) at the Division of Dermatology
and Allergies of Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germa-
ny (Dr. T. W. Fischer, Prof. Dr. P. Elsner)
Hereditary hormonal (androgenetic) hair loss is still a problem aff ecting numerous men; to date no satisfactory solution has been found. Th and pharmaceutical products now on the market vary greatly with respect to degree of eff ectiveness and adverse reactions. Since a genetic predisposition to hereditary hormonal hair loss cannot be changed, current therapeutic strate- gies aim at applying eff ective agents to the hair roots to prevent the eff ects of the genetic predisposition. Adrogenetic hair loss is thus a condition requiring long-term treatment, during which special attention must be paid to the safety and tolerability of the products used. Against this background, substances that cause practically no adverse reactions and act independently of hormonal mechanisms represent a promising therapeutic alternative. Diagram and microscopicphotograph of a real hair follicle Since testosterone is an important factor in the development of andro- genetic alopecia, the situation in which testosterone acts on human hair was reproduced in a hair organ culture model. Hairs were extracted from human scalp biopsy specimens and cultivated for 6-10 days under laboratory con- ditions. To obtain results in the HOCM that would be transferable to a high degree to the real-life situation of patients with androgenetic alopecia, the study group took scalp biopsies from young men with beginning hereditary hormonal hair loss. Approx. 20-30 hair follicles were extracted from each scalp specimen. A total of approx. 600 hair follicles were available to the study team.
e results showed that the growth of hair roots under the infl uence of testosterone was distinctly weaker than the growth of hair roots in the control without testosterone (Cf. diagram); furthermore, the activity of the hair roots ceased earlier than in normal volunteers. Th observation that testosterone or its metabolite cause the hair roots to enter the resting (or Telogen) phase prematurely. During the study the inhibitory eff ect of testosterone was shown by the fact that hair growth in the batch containing testosterone was between 17% and 40% less in comparison with growth in the control consisting of pure nutrient medium.
e studies carried out to fi nd new eff ective mechanisms against andro- genetic alopecia yielded the surprising result that caff eine can cancel the un- ese results showed that, in addition to the Conducted at the Clinic for Dermatology and Dermatological Allergology Effectiveness Study
of the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena generally expected eff ect of improving circulation, caff eine had other eff ects that had previously been overlooked. In the wake of these reports, caff eine was applied to the hair follicles of men with beginning hereditary hormonal hair e study results revealed that a distinct increase in hair follicle growth, amounting to up to +46% in individual batches, was achieved with caff eine. e stimulatory eff ect of caff eine on blood circulation was not relevant in the hair organ culture model, since the HOCM operates independently of the vascular system. For this reason, any stimulating eff ect of caff eine observed in the model must be due to caff eine acting directly on the metabolism of the hair e measurement of total culture time in the HOCM yielded further evidence that caff eine exerts a positive eff ect on the vitality of hair roots. Th hair follicles exposed to caff eine under culture conditions exhibited a 37% longer lifetime in comparison with the control.
Aft er the growth-suppressing eff ect of testosterone and the growth-stimu- lating eff ect of caff eine were demonstrated in individual batches containing testosterone or caff eine, respectively, growth trials were carried out in a hybrid model containing both testosterone and caff eine and testosterone in combina- tion. In particular, the researchers wanted to fi nd out whether caff eine was able to cancel the suppressive eff ect of testosterone.
e study results show that caff eine is able to cancel the suppression of hair growth induced by testosterone and even to stimulate hair growth thus confi rmed that caff eine is able to neutralize the undesirable eff ects of testosterone, a substance held responsible for the shutdown of hair follicle activity in patients with androgenetic alopecia. Following exposure to caff eine, the hair follicles return to a balanced state equivalent to the state of the untreated hair follicles in the control solution.
Analysis of the results of hair-growth studies carried out in a hair
organ culture model (HOCM) under laboratory conditions simu-
lating hair growth conditions in men with hereditary hormonal
hair loss revealed that caff eine exerts a signifi cant stimulating
eff ect on hair follicle growth. Th
e results showed, furthermore,
that caff eine may be a potent growth-stimulating agent suitable
for long-term therapeutic or prophylactic treatment of patients
with a genetic predisposition to androgenetic alopecia.

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