BACKGROUND Arachidonic acid (AA) is an omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid present in all mammalian cell membranes, and involved in the regulation of many cellular processes, including cell survival, angiogenesis, and mitogenesis. The dermal papilla, composed of specialized fibroblasts located in the bulb of the hair follicle, contributes to the control of hair growth and the hair cycle. OBJEC...

Background: Topical immunotherapy with diphencyprone (DPCP) for the treatment of severe alopecia areata has been used since 1983 and is felt to be the treatment of choice for chronic extensive alopecia areata. Highly variable results have been reported. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the efficacy of DPCP in the treatment of chronic, extensive alopecia areata and to assess the...

There is wide variation in the normal pattern of hair growth. Hypertrichosis, which can be defined as excessive growth of hair compared with that in other subjects of the same age, sex, and race, must be distinguished from hirsutism, a term restricted to an androgen dependent hair pattern that is characterised by excessive hair growth on the upper lip, chin, chest, linea alba, thighs, and axill...

Hypertrichosis is one of the most common side effects of systemic cyclosporine A therapy. It has been previously shown that cyclosporine A induces anagen and inhibits catagen development in mice. In the present study, to explore the mechanisms of cyclosporine A, we investigated the effects of cyclosporine A on hair shaft elongation, hair follicle cell proliferation, apoptosis, and mRNA expressi...

Although hair loss or alopecia is a common disease, its exact mechanisms are not yet well understood. The present study investigated the hypothesis that the homeostatic regulation of genes during hair regeneration may participate in hair loss, based on the cyclicity of hair growth. A cluster of such genes was identified by an expression gene-array from the dorsal skin in a depilated mouse model...

Neurotrophins exert many biological effects not directly targeted at neurons, including modulation of keratinocyte proliferation and apoptosis in vitro. Here we exploit the cyclic growth and regression activity of the murine hair follicle to explore potential nonneuronal functions of neurotrophins in the skin, and analyze the follicular expression and hair growth-modulatory function of BDNF, NT...