title: Combination of herbal extracts and platelet-rich plasma induced dermal papilla cell proliferation: involvement of ERK and Akt pathways.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Recently, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has attracted attention in various medical fields, including plastic surgery, treatment for problematic wounds, and dermatology. Specifically, PRP has been tested during hair transplantation to reduce swelling and pain and to increase hair density. We examined the effects of PRP and herbal extracts combination in order to identify potential stimulants of hair growth.
  
  
  METHODS
  PRP was prepared using the double-spin method and applied to dermal papilla cells (DPCs). MTT viability test and BrdU cell proliferation assay were used to study the effect of herbal extracts and PRP on proliferation of DPCs. To understand the mechanisms of herbal extracts and PRP involved in the regulation of hair growth, we evaluated signaling pathways and measured the expressions of ERK and Akt, by Western blot.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Combination of herbal extracts and PRP was found to induce significant proliferation of human DPCs at concentrations ranging from 1.5% to 4.5%. The present study shows that herbal extracts and PRP affect the expressions of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and Akt in DPCs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, we have shown that combination of herbal extracts and PRP plays an active role in promoting the proliferation of human dermal papilla (DP) cells via the regulation of ERK and Akt proteins, and this may be applicable to the future development of herbal extracts and PRP combination therapeutics to enhance hair growth.
authors.affiliation: Food and Drug Control Laboratory and Research Center, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hosein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rastegar
authors.forename: Hamidreza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ahmadi Ashtiani
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aghaei
authors.forename: Amirohushang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ehsani
authors.forename: Behrooz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Barikbin
mesh_terms: D031583:Althaea; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D031167:Chamaemelum; D019938:Cyclin D1 / Q000378:metabolism; D051358:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4 / Q000378:metabolism; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D005638:Fruit; D018859:Hair Follicle / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D027421:Persea; D010766:Phosphorylation / Q000187:drug effects; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018515:Plant Leaves; D053657:Platelet-Rich Plasma; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism; D027542:Rosmarinus; D015398:Signal Transduction; D046930:Thymus Plant; D026982:Urtica dioica
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D019938:Cyclin D1; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; C495900:CDK4 protein, human; D051358:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases