081 Combined effect of substance P and calcitonin gene related peptide on the hair growth

Hyung Jin Ahn, Young Hee Kim, In-Bum Sohn, Won-Soo Lee Department of Dermatology, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea

Peripheral nervous system has important roles in the hair follicle growth and hair cycle change which are mediated by neuropeptides. Substance P(SP), one of the most important neuropeptides, stimulates mouse hair growth by increasing anagen stage of hair cycle. It is postulated that calcitonin gene related peptide(CGRP) may also exert some role in the hair growth of C57BL/6 mouse model. So, we hypothesize that combined use of SP and CGRP may exert positive effects in terms of hair growth than SP alone. We studied the effect of SP and CGRP on human hair growth using organ culture model in which isolated hair follicles were grown in vitro. We devided the culture plates into four groups, i.e., control group, SP group, CGRP group, and combined group. The results were evaluated by measuring linear hair fiber growth and hair follicle morphology on light and electron microscopy and by measuring radioisotope uptake of[methyl-3H] thymidine and [U-14C] leucine of hair follicle. We found that SP prolonged the anagen phase of hair cycle and that combined use of SP and CGRP potentiated the effect of SP on this. From the results, we can conclude that combined use of SP and CGRP exert positive effect in the human hair growth in vitro than SP alone.