J Appl Biomed 21:48-57, 2023 | DOI: 10.32725/jab.2023.003

Bing Zhang2, Wenyun Zhang1, Jianfang Luo2, Jian He1, Xiaomin Zheng1, Siyang Zhu1, Baoshan Rong1, Yong Ai1, Lanyue Zhang3, 4, *, Tinggang He1, * 1Hua An Tang Biotech Group Co., Ltd., Guangzhou 510000, P.R. China 2Guangdong He Ji Biotech Co., Ltd., Guangzhou 510000, P.R. China 3Guangdong University of Technology, School of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangzhou 510006, P.R. China 4Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Biorefinery, Guangzhou 510006, China

Oleanolic acid (OA) is a pentacyclic triterpenoid with favourable physiological activity. It is widely distributed in more than 200 species of plants. OA has garnered significant interest because of its potential biological activities, such as antioxidant, bacteriostatic, and hair growth-promoting effects. To study the effect of OA on hair growth and related mechanisms, we investigated hair growth in mice with testosterone-induced androgenetic alopecia (AGA) that were treated with three different concentrations of OA. The antioxidant, bacteriostatic, and cytotoxic effects of OA were evaluated. We found that mice with testosterone-induced AGA treated with 1% or 0.5% OA showed significantly enhanced hair growth and increased vascular endothelial growth factor/glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase ratio and levels of fibroblast growth factor receptor and insulin-like growth factor 1. Using an immunofluorescence staining assay, we demonstrated that β-catenin, a key Wnt signalling transducer, was highly expressed in the OA-treated groups. These results suggest that OA may promote hair growth by stimulating hair matrix cell proliferation via the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and lowering the levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha, and transforming growth factor-beta 1, dihydrotestosterone, and 5α-reductase.

Keywords: Androgenetic alopecia; Oleanolic acid; FGFR; IGF-1; TGF-β1; TNF-α Grants and funding:

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Leading Team Project of Panyu District (Grant No. 2019-R01-6) and the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Biorefinery (No. 2021GDKLPRB02).

Conflicts of interest:

The authors have no conflict of interests to declare.

Zhang B, Zhang W, Luo J, He J, Zheng X, Zhu S, et al.. Effects of oleanolic acid on hair growth in mouse dorsal skin mediated via regulation of inflammatory cytokines. J Appl Biomed. 2023;21(1):48-57. doi:10.32725/jab.2023.003.