Hi guys, i just found this information about lowering PGD2 what are peoples thoughts on these ideas.
Could tea, ginger or aspirin reduce or prevent hair loss? If some recent findings about male pattern baldness are true they just might be able to. But I'm not talking about eating or drinking them. They would need to be applied to the scalp. This might seem like the strange things people have done over the years to regrow hair, such as putting cow pats on their heads or rubbing in strange concoctions, but there is science behind it.
A team of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania say that an enzyme called prostaglandin D2 synthase (PTGDS) and its product, a protein called prostaglandin D2 (PDG2), is three times more prevalent in the bald scalp areas of men with male pattern baldness than in the areas with hair (1). It is thought that PDG2 interferes with the growth of hair follicle stem cells in their scalps.
Bald areas of scalp still have the hair follicle stem cells but they don't develop into mature hair follicles capable of growing normal hair.
The research team believe that if PGD2's effects could be blocked it might allow the stem cells to do their job of creating mature hair follicles. There are various types of prostaglandins and they have many effects throughout the body. Some, including PGD2, are involved in inflammatory responses. To have an effect they must bind to a receptor on their target cells. PGD2 binds to a receptor on hair follicles called GPR44, also called CRTH2 (yes, I know, very boring names). If the receptor could be blocked, PDG2 wouldn't be able to act and this should result in normal hair growth. If this idea is correct, it might stop further hair loss and it might lead to growth on the bald patches. Or it might stop further loss but have no effect on the bald patches. There are experimental compounds in development now which are designed to block PGD2 from binding to GPR44. These are new drugs that can only be made in a laboratory and that will make a lot of money for the companies that produce them. And cost a lot of money to buy. The good news is that there might be a way to save money and make your own treatments.
As far as I know, there aren't any natural substances in everyday use that have the ability to bind with GPR44 but there definitely are others that can inhibit the production of PGD2. I will deal with the latter, the inhibitors of PGD2, in this article. These substances that can inhibit PGD2 are found in the foodstuffs I mentioned above.
An enzyme called cyclo-oxegenase-2 (COX-2) converts the omega-6 fatty acid, arachidonic acid (AA) to PGD2. If that conversion can be stopped or reduced anywhere along the chain it will stop or reduce the effects of PGD2 on the hair follicles. Constituents of the foodstuffs I mentioned can stop or reduce how much AA is converted to PGD2 or they can reduce the effectiveness or production of COX-2.
The active ingredients in those foodstuffs that could inhibit the production of this prostaglandin are quercetin in tea and various compounds in ginger.
I mentioned aspirin too but this is the drug form of salicylic acid. Salicylic acid is found in many plants (and we also manufacture it in our bodies). Salicylic acid, the stuff found in plants, can be toxic if too much is absorbed through the skin. And, as the form used to test inhibition of COX in vitro is aspirin or sodium salicylate, I'm not sure if salicylic acid from plants such as meadowsweet or willow bark would be safe or even if it would work.
You might be tempted to dissolve an aspirin tablet in water and then apply that to your skin but you'll also be rubbing in all the fillers and caking agents that are used to make tablets. Aspirin toxicity could also be a problem. And some people would get skin reactions. I think it would be better to use tea or ginger. But ginger can also cause skin rashes in some people. If you decide to use these substances you should test some on a small area of skin first where a rash won't be noticeable, such as an arm. No doubt, there will even be some people who would develop a rash after applying tea to their skin, so you must decide if the potential risks are worth it.
I found lots of studies which showed the required effects of quercetin, aspirin and ginger on COX-2 and PDG2. But then I realised that I couldn't use those studies. I forgot about metabolism. In all those studies the foods were fed to the participants. They had the required effects on COX-2 and PGD2 but, as they had gone through the digestive system, their actions could have been due to the changes they underwent during digestion. I needed to find if these substances would have similar effects on isolated cells because, when they are rubbed on the scalp, they will come into direct contact with the skin and follicle cells. They won't be changed by metabolism as they would be if they were eaten as foods. Luckily, there are studies which show that they do affect cells directly and inhibit or reduce the actions of PGD2 or COX-2. This is one case where I will use the results of in vitro studies where cells in a dish are treated with some substance to see what happens. I would usually ignore such studies because I normally deal with substances that are eaten or drunk and so are subjected to all the processes of metabolism.
I have spent more than a week researching this and I want to get on with it so I'll quickly list the studies which I want to use as evidence. They are not about reducing or stopping hair loss. As far as I know there aren't any that examine the properties of these foodstuffs for that purpose. These studies are mainly about cancer and arthritis because of the role played in those diseases by COX-2 and inflammation. They found that the substances under discussion here inhibited COX-2 or the production of PGD2 and they were done with isolated cells - which is what I was looking for.
Quercetin was found to inhibit the enzymatic activity of COX-2(2) and to reduce its production (3).
Ginger inhibited both COX-2 (4) and PGD2 (5).
Aspirin can inhibit the activity or suppress the production of COX-2 (6) (7) (8). But, at least in cultures of smooth muscle cells or endothelial cells (reference 8), its inhibition of COX-2 is transient, and prostaglandin production begins again within 2-5 hours. It may have a longer effect on the cells in the scalp but I can't be sure. There is also the question of aspirin toxicity. For these reasons I think aspirin should be the last of these substances anyone should put their faith in. If you do decide to try it, buy the soluble kind of tablets as they dissolve very easily.
As I said above, none of these studies looked at hair follicles or the skin cells in the scalp and I can't guarantee that the same effects will be found in them but these substances do have affects on PGD2 and COX-2 so could have the same effects in the scalp.
Quercetin
Quercetin is a flavonoid found in many plants and foods. Tea contains very high amounts compared with other foods (9). Green and black tea leaves when dry contain a mean average of between 204 and 264 mg/100g. Decaffeinated tea contains more than ordinary. But Oolong contains hardly any - less than 2mg/100g. Use as little water as possible when infusing the tea or other substances. When tea is brewed normally, with lots of water, 100g only contains about 2mg of quercetin. Naturally, most of the cup of tea is water. So just use enough water to cover the leaves and mash them and squeeze them to get as much out as possible and then you'll approach the 200-odd mg/100g found in dry tea leaves. This will make a stronger, more concentrated, infusion so that you will only need to use perhaps a teaspoonful on your scalp - depending on the size of the bald patch.
There is some confusion about how soluble quercetin is in water. This is because it comes in 2 forms: quercetin aglycone and quercetin glycoside. 'Aglycone' means 'without sugar' and 'glycoside' means 'with sugar'. It's a bit more complicated than that but, not being a biochemist and not wanting to bore you more than I usually do, we'll just leave it at that. Most of the quercetin in foods is the glycoside form but some parts of some foods contain more of the aglycone form. The flesh of onions and shallots, like other food sources, contain mostly the glycoside form (about 90%) but their skins contain about 80% aglycone. It is only the aglycone form that is not soluble in water (although it is a bit more soluble in hot water). The glycoside form is soluble in water and that is the predominant form in tea.
Ginger
Ginger should be cut into small pieces and heated in water. Again, use as little water as possible to obtain a strong infusion.
Ginger contains many constituents. The main one, gingerol, is transformed into shogaols when it is dried or cooked. The study referred to as number 4 used a methanol (alcohol) extract of ginger. This contained various gingerols, shogaols, gingerdiones and other constituents of ginger. One form of gingerol and two of shogaols inhibited COX-2. Luckily, both water and alcohol can be used to extract the constituents of ginger so you can use water to avoid any potential problems of applying alcohol to your skin.
I must point out that a patent was applied for a number of years ago to use a special preparation of ginger extracts as a hair growth inhibitor but this was for body hair. I'm not sure if it was ever put into production nor how successful it would be as a body hair inhibitor. Body hair and scalp hair are affected by different things and, even if it was successful in its intended use, I don't think it would have an inhibitory effect on scalp hair. But that is only my opinion and is not based on any evidence.
Another thing to be aware of is that COX-2 is also involved in the production of another prostaglandin called PGE2, and this is necessary for skin health. Something that interferes with the production or activity of COX-2 might also interfere with PGE2. So, you would have to weigh up the chances of reduced skin health in your pursuit of more hair. Although if you manage to grow some hair it will cover up any dry or flaky skin that might be caused by lack of PGE2.
Many substances have a low permeability through the skin and they need something to help them penetrate deeply enough to have an effect on the skin cells. It's mainly the outer layer of skin, the stratum corneum, that is the barrier. Some oils can provide that permeability to get through the stratum corneum. So can ethanol (alcohol) but I don't think it's a good idea to put alcohol on the skin. It is an irritant for some people and possibly carcinogenic. A study into ways of making formulations more easily absorbed by human skin found that a mixture of 10% jojoba oil and 30% corn germ oil gave the best penetration of the vegetable oils tested.(10). This was made into an emulsion with water. Emulsions are a combination of two liquids that normally wouldn't be able to mix but do so with the addition of an emulsifier. .
I think an emulsion would be the best way of delivering one of our substances to the scalp cells. Make an infusion with hot water and then add an emulsifier such as lecithin and then add a mixture of 25% jojoba oil and 75% corn germ oil. There should be about half water and half oil.
Tocopherols also inhibited COX-2, as was found in the study in reference 3, above. Both alpha- and gamma- tocopherol showed this ability. They are two of the forms of vitamin E. In the study of skin penetration enhancers, olive oil performed the worst. It is one of the main sources of alpha-tocopherol. Corn germ oil is one of the main sources of gamma-tocopherol and, as it shows such good penetration power, is the one to use.
Lecithin, mentioned above, usually comes in granules but liquid lecithin is also available. If you use the granules make sure they dissolve properly in the water.
Making the hair loss prevention lotion
Distilled water would be better than tap water but if you use water from the tap it would be better to filter it. Make the infusion of your choice - tea or ginger - and make it strong with very little water. When you've done that and you've mashed and strained out the tea leaves or ginger pieces, add the lecithin and stir it until it dissolves. Then add the oil a little bit at a time and stir until the oil and water have mixed and formed a creamy texture. Only make enough for a few days so the mixture will always be fresh. If using ginger, cut the pieces as small as you can get them so more of the active ingredients will be absorbed by the water.
I'm sorry if the negative possibilities have dampened any initial enthusiasm but any pharmaceutical product they bring out will also have drawbacks and potentially harmful side effects.
Try this at your own risk or, to put it another way (and I couldn't resist saying this), on your own head be it.
Curcumin, a constituent of turmeric, looked very promising when I first started researching this. Like quercetin, ginger and aspirin it inhibited the production of COX-2 and I wrote at length about it. Then further research turned up the fact that it is used to make a paste for the removal of body hair. It is used a lot for this purpose in India. Apparently, it works by weakening the hair roots. So that idea had to be consigned to the scrap heap. Never mind. If there's any merit in this idea of using common household items to stop hair loss there should be enough power in the other three substances to do the job.
References
1. Science Translational Medicine 2012 Mar 21;4(126):126ra34.
Prostaglandin d2 inhibits hair growth and is elevated in bald scalp of men with androgenetic alopecia.
2. Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology. 2006 Dec;58(6):816-25.
Differential modulation of cyclooxygenase-mediated prostaglandin production by the putative cancer chemopreventive flavonoids tricin, apigenin and quercetin.
3. Mutatation Research. 2004 Jul 13;551(1-2):245-54.
Effect of flavonoids and vitamin E on cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) transcription.
4. Fitoterapia. 2011 Jan;82(1):38-43.
Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors in ginger (Zingiber officinale).
5. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Medicine. 1984 Feb;13(2):227-35.
Effects of aqueous extracts of onion, garlic and ginger on platelet aggregation and metabolism of arachidonic acid in the blood vascular system: in vitro study.
6. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U S A. 1991 Mar 15;88(6):2384-7.
Aspirin inhibits interleukin 1-induced prostaglandin H synthase expression in cultured endothelial cells.
7. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U S A. 1999 Apr 27;96(9):5292-7.
Suppression of inducible cyclooxygenase 2 gene transcription by aspirin and sodium salicylate.
8. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U S A. 1987 Mar;84(5):1417-20.
Pharmacokinetics of aspirin and salicylate in relation to inhibition of arachidonate cyclooxygenase and antiinflammatory activity.
9. USDA Database for the Flavonoid Content of Selected Foods, March 2003.
10. Journal of Cosmetic Science. 2007 May-Jun;58(3):245-54.
Vehicle and enhancer effects on human skin penetration of aminophylline from cream formulations: evaluation in vivo.
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I recently made a hair growth tonic that (hopefully) does something. Seems like all of the ingredient help combat hairloss / block DHT in some way or the other. I actually got the ingredients from an ebook that claims to help regrow hair. The author has some pretty impressive before and after pictures and he combines the tonic with DRing (no minoxidil). Ingredients are:
Emu oil - 100% triglyceride (penetrates the skin well), antibacterial and anti-inflammatory, rich source of protein, and shows to be a DHT blocker
Borage (starseed) oil - contains the highest concentration of gamma linoleic acid (GLA) of all the plants. GLA has been proven to inhibit 5-alpha reductase types 1 and 2 from converting testosterone into DHT locally
Apple polyphenols supplement - really powerful anti-oxidant. One Japanese study reports that in a double blind test, apple polyphenols were twice as effective as Minoxidil at promoting hair growth
High strength saw palmetto soft gels - DHT blocker
Magnesium oil - supposedly helps remove calcification
Tea Tree oil - strong, natural antibacterial. It also has anti viral, antiseptic and anti fungal properties. It is capable of killing demodox mites in 4 minutes when used at 50% concentration, I only used about 20 drops in my hair growth tonic.
When mixed together, the tonic is a light brownish color and doesn't smell too pleasant. Hopefully this helps boost my results!
I'm about 5 months into dermarolling and I currently roll once every 2 weeks. I really do feel like its working, I have lots of small hairs sticking up on my hairline that it looks funny when I tie my hair up. However the results have been slow. It has 100% stopped my hair loss from progressing which is huge in itself.
This looks like an interesting mixture, please let us know how you get on with it.
