"We found that a study published in 2018 examines the effect of sildenafil (v****) on hair growth. This is a very basic science study and very preliminary. It’s an in vitro study performed on human tissue. It also includes an in vivo study performed on mice.
During the in vitro portion of the study, scalp tissue samples were extracted from human subjects. None of them had any history of scalp disease, so there were no mitigating factors that could have adversely affected the study’s outcome.
The hair follicle cells and the dermal papillae are cells that are instrumental in hair growth were cultured in a petri dish. The researchers were able to measure the PDE5 levels and various growth factors in the cells, both with and without v****.
For those who don’t know what growth factors are – they are various hormones that stimulate cell growth and blood vessel growth, and they are active all over the human body.
One of the ways dihydrotestosterone (DHT) destroys the hair follicle is by inhibiting these growth factors as well as destroying the dermal papillae cells.
IGF-1 is the growth factor inhibited by DHT, and IGF-1 is known to regulate the growth cycle of the hair, so it is important to look at IGF-1 and other growth factors which these researchers did in the study.
In the in vivo rodent study, they applied two different topical solutions of v****. There was a 0.1% and 1% solution of v****, and they compared this to both a control group and a group using 2% minoxidil.
Getting to the results of these studies in the human hair cultures, it was found that the PDE5 enzyme is active in the human hair follicle.
Remember, PDE5 is the target enzyme for v****, so one would expect v**** to have some effect on hair growth. In fact, after treatment with v****, it was found that the growth of the dermal papillae resells increased.
Now, the dermal papilla cells are the cells responsible for promoting hair growth, so the more of those you have, the better.
So far things are looking pretty promising with the study, they also found various growth factors in the dermal papillae cells increased as well. This includes IGF-1, which is the growth factor that is decreased by DHT.
What about the in vivo study with rodents? It is a mammal, and it has real hair just like us, so it would be a promising thing to see results as they relate to hair growth with v**** in these rodents.
They found explicitly in the study in both the 0.1% of v**** and 1% v**** group that there was a transition from the telogen phase, which is the resting phase of the hair follicle to the growth phase.
This means that the growth phase of the hair follicle was prolonged, and the resting phase was shortened, resulting in more overall hair growth in rodents.
What was also notable is that the effectiveness of v**** doesn’t seem to be very dose-dependent because both the 0.1% solution and 1% solution of v**** promoted hair growth roughly on par with 2% minoxidil. And 2% minoxidil is a pretty strong hair growth stimulant, so that’s significant.
The final parameter they looked at was angiogenesis, which is the growth of new blood vessels in the skin’s skin around the hair follicles.
It is known as peripheral pair of follicular vessel formation. They didn’t include the minoxidil group in this one, but it was shown that both groups treated with both topical v**** experienced significant angiogenesis compared to the control. In fact, the number of blood vessels doubled compared to control, which seems pretty impressive.
Summarizing the results, it was shown that v**** promotes hair growth by what appears to be the angiogenesis mechanism caused by v****’s effect on stimulating growth factors.
Stimulating growth factors in the hair follicles and the dermal papillae cells would make it growth stimulants similar to something like minoxidil as opposed to an anti-androgen like finasteride."
During the in vitro portion of the study, scalp tissue samples were extracted from human subjects. None of them had any history of scalp disease, so there were no mitigating factors that could have adversely affected the study’s outcome.
The hair follicle cells and the dermal papillae are cells that are instrumental in hair growth were cultured in a petri dish. The researchers were able to measure the PDE5 levels and various growth factors in the cells, both with and without v****.
For those who don’t know what growth factors are – they are various hormones that stimulate cell growth and blood vessel growth, and they are active all over the human body.
One of the ways dihydrotestosterone (DHT) destroys the hair follicle is by inhibiting these growth factors as well as destroying the dermal papillae cells.
IGF-1 is the growth factor inhibited by DHT, and IGF-1 is known to regulate the growth cycle of the hair, so it is important to look at IGF-1 and other growth factors which these researchers did in the study.
In the in vivo rodent study, they applied two different topical solutions of v****. There was a 0.1% and 1% solution of v****, and they compared this to both a control group and a group using 2% minoxidil.
Getting to the results of these studies in the human hair cultures, it was found that the PDE5 enzyme is active in the human hair follicle.
Remember, PDE5 is the target enzyme for v****, so one would expect v**** to have some effect on hair growth. In fact, after treatment with v****, it was found that the growth of the dermal papillae resells increased.
Now, the dermal papilla cells are the cells responsible for promoting hair growth, so the more of those you have, the better.
So far things are looking pretty promising with the study, they also found various growth factors in the dermal papillae cells increased as well. This includes IGF-1, which is the growth factor that is decreased by DHT.
What about the in vivo study with rodents? It is a mammal, and it has real hair just like us, so it would be a promising thing to see results as they relate to hair growth with v**** in these rodents.
They found explicitly in the study in both the 0.1% of v**** and 1% v**** group that there was a transition from the telogen phase, which is the resting phase of the hair follicle to the growth phase.
This means that the growth phase of the hair follicle was prolonged, and the resting phase was shortened, resulting in more overall hair growth in rodents.
What was also notable is that the effectiveness of v**** doesn’t seem to be very dose-dependent because both the 0.1% solution and 1% solution of v**** promoted hair growth roughly on par with 2% minoxidil. And 2% minoxidil is a pretty strong hair growth stimulant, so that’s significant.
The final parameter they looked at was angiogenesis, which is the growth of new blood vessels in the skin’s skin around the hair follicles.
It is known as peripheral pair of follicular vessel formation. They didn’t include the minoxidil group in this one, but it was shown that both groups treated with both topical v**** experienced significant angiogenesis compared to the control. In fact, the number of blood vessels doubled compared to control, which seems pretty impressive.
Summarizing the results, it was shown that v**** promotes hair growth by what appears to be the angiogenesis mechanism caused by v****’s effect on stimulating growth factors.
Stimulating growth factors in the hair follicles and the dermal papillae cells would make it growth stimulants similar to something like minoxidil as opposed to an anti-androgen like finasteride."
https://viaqx.com/articles/does-v****-help-to-stop-hair-loss/