WHAT'S NEW IN HAIR RESEARCH in 2008?

By Prof. Desmond J. Tobin

University of Bradford

The last 12 months has continued to be a very busy time for hair researchers working in university and industrial laboratories worldwide. Much of this new research (including research from my lab in Bradford and from the Farjo Clinic in Manchester) was presented at the Fifth International Congress of Hair Research, where hundreds of hair researchers gathered in Vancouver, Canada in June 2007. The principal aim of all this research effort is to improve not only our basic knowledge of hair growth in health and disease, but also to aid the development of better treatments when things go wrong.

Despite this explosion in knowledge of how the hair follicle works, significant breakthroughs in terms of patient benefits remain frustratingly difficult to obtain – this is perhaps not too surprising given that nature has designed the hair follicle to resist potentially risky accidental and inappropriate modifications. Patients continue to find the uncontrolled marketing of hair-loss ‘cures’ frustrating. Indeed, the sheer number of supposed ‘cures’ (including the latest ‘Green Coffee Bean’ crazes) for hair loss both on the high street and via the internet goes to prove just one thing - that none of them is particularly effective.

To date, there remain only a very limited number of verified treatments for hair loss in adult men and women. These include the drugs minoxidil (as an over- the-counter product Rogaine), and finasteride (as a prescription-only drug Propecia). Many hair loss sufferers will find that these two drugs will slow down and stop further hair loss when used appropriately. However, only a minority of users will gain cosmetically-acceptable hair regrowth. Thus, for many a more effective alternative is hair transplantation surgery, where techniques have improved enormously over the last 15 years.  

However, I would like to use this space to update you on what future treatments may be like, based on the latest research activities in research laboratories around the world. One of the big news stories in hair research this year was the apparent generation of new hair follicles, yes new hair follicles!, in hair-free skin. It was dogma that we are born with a fixed number (5 million all over our bodies) of hair follicles (the factories that produce the hair shafts). Only 2% of these are on our scalp! This new research involved monitoring a large wound on the back of a dark-haired mouse that was allowed to heal naturally (i.e. without stitches). The scientists found that with time the simple surface skin layer (called ‘epidermis’) growing over to close the wound started to form new structures that became full hair-follicles which produced white hair shafts. Importantly, there was no direct evidence that these ‘new’ hair follicles were derived, (though this may need even more checking), from hair follicle material located at the edge of the wound. In addition, when the researchers forced the skin to produce more of a substance called Wnt, new hair follicle growth was further enhanced. So what does this research mean for you and me? Well for the first time scientists have found that there may be the possibility of making new hair follicles in skin that previously lacked them, and secondly that we now know the identify of some of the molecules (e.g., Wnt) that can further stimulate this process. Many more experiments need to be carried out, as with all powerful science we need to be sure that it is safe for the patient. However, I hope you will agree that this is very exciting science and the potential benefits are enormous. Watch this space….