stauntonia hexaphylla extract ameliorates androgenic alopecia by inhibiting androgen signaling in testosterone-induced alopecia mice

Background: stauntonia hexaphylla has been a traditional folk remedy for alleviating fever and providing anti-inflammatory properties. androgenetic alopecia (aga) is the most common form mediated by the presence of the dihydrotestosterone (dht). objectives: in this study, we evaluated the effects of an extract of s. hexaphylla on aga models and its mechanisms of action. methods: we studied s. hexaphylla extract to evaluate 5α-reductase and androgen receptor (ar) levels, apoptosis, and cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo. in addition, paracrine factors for androgenic alopecia, such as transforming growth factor beta-1 (tgf-β1) and dickkopf-a (dkk-1), were examined. apoptosis was investigated, and the evaluation of proliferation was examined with cytokeratin 14 (ck-14) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (pcna). results: in human follicular dermal papilla cells, the 5α-reductase and ar were decreased following s. hexaphylla treatment, which reduced the bax/bcl-2 ratio. histologically, the dermal thickness and follicle number were higher in the s. hexaphylla groups compared with the aga group. in addition, the dht concentration, 5α-reductase, and ar were decreased, thereby downregulating tgf-β1 and dkk-1 expression and upregulating cyclin d in s. hexaphylla groups. the numbers of keratinocyte-positive and pcna-positive cells were increased compared to those in the aga group. conclusions: the present study demonstrated that the s. hexaphylla extract ameliorated aga by inhibiting 5α-reductase and androgen signaling, reducing aga paracrine factors that induce keratinocyte (kc) proliferation, and inhibition apoptosis and catagen prematuration.