Procyanidins
Following our experiments with proanthocyanidins, we isolated several procyanidins from apples and
barley husks as single compounds in purified form and examined their hair-growing activity. Procyanidin
B-2 [epicatechin-(4 ?Ø8)-epicatechin]
and procyanidin C-1 [epicatechin-
(4?Ø8)-epicatechin-(4?Ø8)-
epicatechin] (Figure 3) were obtained
from apple juice according to the
method described elsewhere.8 Our
results identified procyanidin B-2
purified from apples to be a powerful
stimulant that promotes hair epithelial
cell growth more than 300% relative
to controls.
Hair-growth stimulation in vitro: We
demonstrated the hair-growthpromoting
activities of procyanidin B-
2 and procyanidin C-1 purified from
apples at various concentrations in a
cell culture system using murine hair
epithelial cells. These cells were
isolated and cultured as described
above. For comparison purposes, we
ran the same test on (–)-epicatechin.
Of the proanthocyanidin species we
isolated and whose activity we
examined, procyanidin B-2 purified
from apples shows the highest activity
of more than 300% relative to controls
at a concentration of 30 ?M. The peak
activity of procyanidin C-1 was lower
than that of procyanidin B-2; however,
its activity at lower concentrations
exceeds that of procyanidin B-2. On
the other hand, (–)-epicatechin, a
flavan-3-ol unit comprising
procyanidins, exhibits minimal activity
(Figure 4). The growth of dermal
fibroblasts from mice and dermal
papilla cells from rats (data not shown
in either case) was not affected by
either procyanidin B-2 or procyanidin
C-1 in the concentration range
examined (0.01-100 ?M).
Hair-growth stimulation in vivo: We
demonstrated the hair-growthpromoting
activities of procyanidin B-2
and procyanidin C-1 in an in vivo assay that measured induction of the anagen phase in C3H/HeSlc
miceb with reference to the method of Hattori and Ogawa.13 We prepared three topical formulations: two
of which contain procyanidins of different degrees of polymerization (procyanidin B-2 or procyanidin C-1)
and one of which contains minoxidil. Vehicle without procyanidins or minoxidil was used as the control.
New Health & Longevity Special Report - P a g e 5 -
http://www.applepoly.com/pb2
The group to which 1% procyanidin B-
2 had been applied showed an
extensive growth area of 69.6% ±
21.8% (average ± SD); the group to
which 1% procyanidin C-1 had been
applied showed an extensive growth
area of 78.3% ± 7.6% (average ± SD);
the group to which 1% minoxidil had
been applied showed an extensive
growth area of 81.2% ± 10.5%
(average ± SD). On the other hand,
the control group to which vehicle was
applied showed little hair growth:
about 40% (41.7% ± 16.3%, average
± SD) of the shaven area was covered
with hair (Figure 5). These results
demonstrate that procyanidin
oligomers, such as procyanidin B-2 or
pro-cyanidin C-1, possess marked
hair-growing activity by inducing the
anagen phase in vivo.
I'm sure the info is out there somewhere. 