another stem cell break through

[cricketlover]

guys, check this link & the video. they seem to be really excited about the stem cell research & say its not far off. In the article check out the number of people who want to sign up!

 

http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/29/617362.aspx

[cricketlover]

guys, check this link & the video. they seem to be really excited about the stem cell research & say its not far off. In the article check out the number of people who want to sign up!

 

http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/29/617362.aspx

[flyby]

I must say. This one does really appear to be the real deal. I'll bet it's more like 5-10 years before we actually see anything with acceptable results on the market though. Lot's of unanswered questions too. How would they regenerate a hairline? Is hair growth direction the same as surrounding hairs. I wonder if it would create growth in a scar? Only time will tell.

[Bill - Seemiller]

cricketlover,

 

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I took the opportunity to watch the video. It definitely looks promising but as of now, everything is very generic sounding. Their "magic" and "secret" formula obviously needs to undergo human testing. Perhaps once it does, the secret will be revealed, and perhaps a new exciting hair loss treatment that is far superior to Propecia and Rogaine will be born.

 

Here's hoping!

 

Bill

[Lightseek]

Originally posted by cricketlover:

guys, check this link & the video. they seem to be really excited about the stem cell research & say its not far off. In the article check out the number of people who want to sign up!

 

http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/29/617362.aspx

 

 

That was a really interesting article. Thank you for posting.

[wylie]

While studying the role of stem cells in skin regeneration, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania medical center say they've been able to regenerate new hair follicles in adult mice. They weren't trying to cure baldness, but they say that they may have, by combining stem cells with a secret compound.

 

This is different from hair loss drugs like Propecia and Rogaine, which help people maintain their hair but don't grow new hair.

 

As Dr. Nancy Snyderman said, this treatment could be on the market for humans within three years.

 

 

 

Wow, that made me smile. Seems thats exactly how Rogaine was found to regrow hair, by accident.

 

I don't know if the story is really as optimistic and factual as that but it damn sure was great to read that, I second the poster who thanked you for that. I'll watch the video later. From recently seeing a mans finger regrow (from the first knuckle to the tip, including the fingernail) in only four months I know that science has recently crossed over into some pretty exciting discoveries.

 

And you can bet whatever compound is successful in regrowing hair will be "secret" as it unlocks untold wealth for whoever is the first to find it.

[thanatopsis_awry]

Accidental progress -- gotta love it!

 

Perhaps, I will go to Dr. Armani after all and have him densepack my temples with 5000FUE's....

[Naruto]

i went through the link coulnt see video, found it on youtube.

I feel confident in that it has come to mainstream tv, as well as human trials will start.

 

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=405102698573450...ype=search&plindex=0

[Guest HLBD]

Ah, today's media... They sensationalize things to Earth-shattering proportions and water-down the intellectual content of any story to the point of swill.

 

In truth, this board has discussed this discovery previously. The "magic" formula they speak of are WNT proteins, the proteins that activate human stem cells.

 

The have also largely ignored the fact that wounding the skin, even if only in a minor way, is necessary in order to be able to apply the wnt proteins. The researchers are currently thinking of a dermabrasion gel and a after-cream containing the WNT proteins.

 

This is a huge discovery as the researchers did not notice any occurrence of cancerous or cancer-like growths which have plagued other stem cell studies; however, there will most likely be other complications - don't get me wrong, I hope as much as any man that this treatment works and miraculously, but as flyby mentioned, there are a lot of unanswered questions.

 

1. Stem cells are notoriously unreliable, as even this discovery proves - the researchers set out to activate stem cells to heal wounds and ended-up creating new follicles. A similar Stanford study set out to use muscle stem cells to create more muscle tissue, but when the activated the stem cells, they created scar tissue instead.

 

Because the cells are so unreliable, it is possible that any hair grown might not just be colorless; it might be a different texture, have a shorter growth phase, or be a different type of follicle rather than scalp hair - i.e.: you could end-up with pubic hair on your scalp.

 

2. The mice in which the hair follicles were grown were not suffering from any form of hair loss. Any of us who read a great deal of hair loss/hair growth studies can tell you that getting mice to grow hair is as easy as getting Kevin James to eat - very easy. Animal studies are known for being unreliable when it comes to using them to hypothesize how a chemical or treatment would act systemically in a human subject.

 

Also, we have no idea how the treatment would work in a subject suffering from MPB. Granted, it was believed impossible to create new hair follicles previously and the researchers were able to do so on patches of skin that had been scarred and a number of follicles were destroyed, but it's still a big assumption that the treatment wouldn't encounter unique obstacles within MPB subjects. For one, would the new follicles be DHT resistant? There is a good chance that some would not be resistant while others would.

 

3. Just how many treatments would be required? How many new follicles could be grown? Would treatment - skin wounding - destroy native, natural follicles? All of this is yet unknown.

 

And then, there is the artistry issue that flyby brings up. The new follicles could grow in any pattern, any size and (as mentioned before) any texture. There is the possibility that the treatment grows too much hair in an odd place, like at the hairline or the temples. Not to mention, how would you design a hairline pattern this way?

 

Now, I have to say, I look forward to seeing this as a treatment and it could be the best treatment for MPB and other forms of hair loss ever developed. I sincerely hope that it is, but I will remain skeptical until all the questions are answered. Even if everything goes as planned, I still doubt that it would be time to forget about HT docs, or get your hairline packed with 10,000+ grafts just yet.

 

At best, I see this as being a big step towards ending MPB, but not THE step. Most likely, you'll need to go in for several of these treatment, see and HT doc to design patterns for the new hair and utilize some form of DHT inhibitor.

 

Here are some links to more scientific articles concerning this discovery:

 

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2007/05/scientist...n_to_make_bald_h.php

 

http://www.physorg.com/news98540209.html

 

 

 

Now, as for some more (IMHO) down-to-Earth treatments. Neosil's hair growth compound is finishing it's Phase IIb FDA trials this month. And before you balk at another hair growth stimulator, Neosil's compound (also discovered by accident by researchers studying the prevention of bone degeneration) is a proteasome inhibitor. A proteasome inhibitor prevents the breakdown of certain proteins in the body. While Neosil's compound doesn't work for the prevention of bone degeneration, it does seem stop and reverse miniaturization process in subjects with MPB. The exact action of DHT once it has attached itself to a susceptible follicle is unknown, but it is theorized (due to the effectiveness of the Neosil compound and its design) that DHT must breakdown an protein necessary for the follicle to regenerate hair shafts. As a proteasome inhibitor, the compound inhibits this action, or so it is surmised.

 

Neosil has announced very positive data in both Phase I and Phase IIa trials. The compound is a topical and has no known side effects, aside from what is common between all topicals: chief among them being skin irritation. The compound is extremely efficient, only two weeks of treatment followed by to weeks without treatment in Phase IIa trials resulted in Neosil remaining effective even without daily application and still out-performing minox. 5%. Phase IIb trials were started to see how much more effective a once daily treatment would be over a period of time.

 

Although Phase III trials are typically the longest part of the FDA approval process, it is conceivable that this phase won't last very long in this case as it is doubtful that this compound will cause any currently unknown side effects as it has proven to be well tolerated and completely non-toxic. Also, although it is unusual to do so, a company may begin selling their drug during Phase III trials, give positive data concerning Phase I and II trials.

 

Time will tell.

[Bill - Seemiller]

HLBD,

 

Great post.

 

The above article did sound strangely familiar to the WNT proteins discovery back from almost a year ago. I suppose we can't get a solid confirmation that this is the same thing or something different but it sounds a lot like it.

 

But I agree that regardless, there is certainly a call to remain skeptical.

 

The colorless hair that has grown on the mouse may or may not be due to the lack of pigment in the skin.

 

Additionally, the question remains, will the newly generated hair follicles be susceptible to DHT? If so, then the newly grown hair follicles will die as soon as DHT binds to the hair follicle receptor.

 

Hopefully more answers will be clear when there is testing on human subjects.

 

Bill

[Guest HLBD]

Thanks Bill!

 

To answer your question, yes this is the discovery of the WNT proteins which were discussed on this board around last spring. The doctor interview by the Today show, George Cotsarelis from U Penn, is the same doctor mentioned in conjunction with the articles on WNT proteins, skin wounding and hair regrowth starting around last spring as well. As you can see either by doing a google search on WNT proteins, or check out the links I posted above which both mention him and the WNT proteins. Why they are being so secret about the proteins now is anyone's guess, but if I were a betting man I'd say that he is frightened that someone else may beat him to the punch with a better WNT compound - many researchers are currently working with WNT proteins for many purposes...

 

I agree, the discovery is exciting, but there are still more questions than answers and the media is more about hype that realistic skepticism, at this point. I think it's way to early to start declaring that there will soon be no bald men. There have been bald men for centuries; this is a good indication (to me at least) that curing baldness is not usually as easy as one might like to think. Sincerely, I hope I am wrong and this is the next wonder treatment, but I don't think it's time to break out the bubbly and getting the fat lady to sing just yet.

 

Right now, I'm a little more optimistic about the Neosil compound. More than likely, we are going to see the proteasome inhibitor topical much sooner than the WNT protein treatment and much of the questions regarding it have already been answered or are in the process of being answered. The data from the Phase I and Phase IIa trials were very encouraging and the Phase IIb treatment results are due in this month. Once again, this will be another treatment, but a treatment with an action that we have not yet seen in any other treatment option and it appears to be equally effective in all areas of the scalp ??“ unlike the Propecia and Rogaine FDA trials, Neosil is testing it's compound on the entire scalp on men suffering from MPB from NW3 to NW6. I believe that Neosil's goal is to replace Rogaine (and all other formulations of minox) as the most effective topical FDA approved medication on the market and probably take its place in the "Big 3."

[wylie]

Excellent posts, HLBD. This Neosil compound sounds promising in its own right.

 

If its true that these Pennsylvania researchers have discovered a compound that regrows hair (w/o the pigment) in mice when wound repair takes place then it seems to me finding a means for application to take place is not that difficult to solve. Either way, it seems there are more than one promising discoveries awaiting trials. We may at least be seeing a more effective replacement for Rogaine in the very near future.