Japan has been at the forefront of new technological advancements and development for quite some time. Recently, Japanese researchers have been trying to crack the elusive male pattern baldness cure. Several Japanese companies and researchers have been cracking away at a treatment, from hair multiplication with Dr. Tsuji, to cell therapy with Shisheido and Replicel. In this article, we will be discussing a new study recently published and discussing the potential of cell therapy treatment for androgenic alopecia.
Treatment Technique and Clinical Results
The team of Japanese researchers led by Ryoji Tsuboi from Tokyo Medical University Hospital developed a new technique to harness healthy dermal sheath cup cells from DHT-resistant hair follicles and inject them into miniaturizing hair follicles. The goal is to replace the vulnerable dermal sheath cup cells with resistant cells that are not affected by the hormone DHT.
The team of researchers tested 65 participants, which were composed of 50 men and 15 women, between the ages of thirty-three and sixty-four. The lead researcher Ryoji Tusboi had this to say about the study: "The result of the study was very encouraging, we are able to show that the study could help develop a new treatment for hair loss."
The researchers examined the density of the treated areas with regenerative cells, and the researchers measured an eight percent improvement in overall hair-density. Researchers measured the results after one year of treatment.
Conclusion
While the Japanese researcher may feel the results are promising, it is clear that the results are not impressive at all. The eight percent increase in density is not a significant cosmetic improvement. Replicel's recent clinical study showed similar lackluster results. At this moment, cell therapy is not a viable treatment for genetic hair loss.