Hair Loss

Lymphokine Cytokine Res.
IL-1 alpha inhibits human hair regrowth

edited for blog use

We investigated the effect of IL-1 alpha on hair regrowth and hair fiber production. In the presence of 10 ng/ml IL-1 alpha, the growth of cultured human hair follicles ceased within 2-4 days, whereas control hair follicles grew for a period of 7-10 days. IL-1 alpha also inhibited hair fiber growth, but with an onset which occurred 3 days later than that of follicle regrowth inhibition. ..snip..The selective PKC inhibitor augmented IL-1-induced inhibition of hair regrowth, but did not itself affect hair growth. These findings indicate that IL-1 alpha exerts a rapid antiproliferative effect on hair follicles, and that inhibition of hair fiber growth is a secondary response. Thus, IL-1 may play a role in the pathophysiology of inflammatory hair loss conditions. snip