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Gold thread implantation promotes hair growth in human and mice

Laboratory Animal Research volume 33, pages 291–297 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Thread-embedding therapy has been widely applied for cosmetic purposes such as wrinkle reduction and skin tightening. Particularly, gold thread was reported to support connective tissue regeneration, but, its role in hair biology remains largely unknown due to lack of investigation. When we implanted gold thread and Happy Lift™ in human patient for facial lifting, we unexpectedly found an increase of hair regrowth in spite of no use of hair growth medications. When embedded into the depilated dorsal skin of mice, gold thread or polyglycolic acid (PGA) thread, similarly to 5% minoxidil, significantly increased the number of hair follicles on day 14 after implantation. And, hair re-growth promotion in the gold threadimplanted mice were significantly higher than that in PGA thread group on day 11 after depilation. In particular, the skin tissue of gold thread-implanted mice showed stronger PCNA staining and higher collagen density compared with control mice. These results indicate that gold thread implantation can be an effective way to promote hair re-growth although further confirmatory study is needed for more information on therapeutic mechanisms and long-term safety.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Goldhappy Mirae Aesthetic Clinic, Seoul, Korea

    Jong-Hwan Kim

  2. Department of Experimental Animal Research, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea

    Eun-Young Cho, Euna Kwon, Jin-Sung Park & Byeong-Cheol Kang

  3. Department of Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Woo-Ho Kim

  4. Department of Neurogenetics, Kolling Institute, Royal North Shore Hospital and University of Sydney, St. Leonards, Australia

    Jin-Sung Park

  5. Department of Veterinary Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

    Yong-Soon Lee

  6. Department of Biotechnology, The Catholic University of Korea, 43 Jibongro, Bucheon, 14662, Korea

    Jun-Won Yun

  7. Graduate School of Translational Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehakro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Korea

    Byeong-Cheol Kang

  8. Biomedical Center for Animal Resource and Development, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Byeong-Cheol Kang

  9. Designed Animal and Transplantation Research Institute, Institute of GreenBio Science Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang-gun, Korea

    Byeong-Cheol Kang

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  1. Jong-Hwan Kim
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Correspondence to Jun-Won Yun.

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Kim, JH., Cho, EY., Kwon, E. et al. Gold thread implantation promotes hair growth in human and mice. Lab Anim Res 33, 291–297 (2017). https://doi.org/10.5625/lar.2017.33.4.291

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.5625/lar.2017.33.4.291

Keywords

  • Gold thread
  • hair loss
  • hair growth

Laboratory Animal Research

ISSN: 2233-7660