Chemoprevention of smoke-induced alopecia in mice by oral administration of l-cystine and vitamin B6

The effect of active hexose correlated compound in modulating cytosine arabinoside-induced hair loss, and 6-mercaptopurine- and methotrexate-induced liver injury in rodents

“…The alopecia induced by doxorubicin [16] or cyclophosphamide [73,74] exhibits a dystrophic catagen pattern however. Both smoke-induced and drug-induced alopecia are characterized by a sharp increase of apoptosis in the dystrophic follicles [17]. There is a parallel with this view in our study, where benefit from drug-induced alopecia (hair loss) can be modulated by AHCC supplementation.…”

“…Microscopic skin analyses showed severe loss of hair follicles in the Ara-C treatment group but fewer losses of hair follicles in the Ara-C plus AHCC treatment groups. Although histological data to show the development of hair loss in this study was not available, it is interesting that in the smoke-induced alopecia study, D'Agostini et al [17] revealed that ''histopathological analysis of several areas of skin with alopecia suggests atrophy of epidermis with a reduction in the number of cell layers''. Hair follicles in the same areas were reduced in number and shortened.…”

“…Hair follicles in the same areas were reduced in number and shortened. Rare and minute hair bulbs were detectable in alopecia areas but mitotic activity was very scarce or totally absent in the matrix of hair follicles [17]. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is suggested to modulate alopecia.…”

“…It is envisaged that supplementation strategies involving AHCC could significantly benefit the cost-effectiveness of health care interventions in cancer treatment. Oral administration of L-cystine/ vitamin B6 mixture with diet could be an effective chemopreventive treatment against smoke-induced alopecia in mice [17]. Alopecia induced by genotoxic cytostatic drugs used in cancer chemotherapy is characterized by apoptosis and nuclear aberrations in both experimental [71] and clinical settings [72].…”

“…The result of chemotherapy exposure to the proliferating cells in the hair follicles may produce weak hair or even total loss of hair shaft formation. Although this is generally reversible, alopecia is identified as one of the most feared side effects of chemotherapy [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Methotrexate (MTX) and 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) are used in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and other malignancies [19][20][21][22][23][24].…”