Immune Cells Induces Hair Growth- Study

Everyone longs for beautiful tresses, but not everyone have them. If you also are looking for a medicine to get back all those hair that you lost to pollution, then boost your immunity. Researchers have discovered that immune cells, which play a major role in healing wound, can induce hair growth by activating skin stem cells.

According to Mirna Perez-Moreno from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), "We have discovered that macrophages -- cells whose main function is traditionally attributed to fight infections and wound repair -- are also involved in the activation of hair follicle stem cells in non-inflamed skin."

This study, which was published in journal PLOS Biology, was conducted on mice. And the scientists believe their research may find new ways of hair growth treatments in humans. They also discovered that mice started to regrow hair when they were given anti-inflammatory drugs.

The researchers noticed that when skin cells are dormant, a fraction of macrophages die a natural death owing to a mechanism known as apoptosis. These dying cells activated nearby stem cells to start hair re-growth.

Macrophages secrete a number of elements, which also includes a class of signalling molecules dubbed as Wnts. When these scientists treated macrophages with a Wnt inhibitor drug, the activation of hair growth was delayed. This showed what a major role Wnts play in promoting hair growth. (Image: University of Texas)