Tier 3 — preclinical

β-Nicotinamide Mononucleotide Promotes Cell Proliferation and Hair Growth by Reducing Oxidative Stress

Weian Du, Jiaqi Chen, Jianjun Li, et al.
Molecules 2024 29(4):798

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 38398550
PubMed Central
PMC10893548
DOI
10.3390/molecules29040798
Funding
Funded by Guangxi Bagui Scholars (C3040099206), youth scientific research backbone project of Zhongshan Polytechnic (2019GG07), Zhongshan social welfare project (2021B2015), and the 2021 Foshan innovation-driven assistance project (2021019).
Competing interests
Author Weian Du was employed by Guangdong Homy Genetics Ltd.; the remaining authors reported no commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict.

Study snapshot

DesignPreclinical mouse hair-growth experiment plus in-vitro mechanistic study in DHT-treated human dermal papilla cells.
ModelDHT-related mouse hair-loss model and cultured human dermal papilla cells.
SamplePreclinical animal/cell study; no human participants were enrolled.
InterventionNMN exposure in DHT-induced hair-loss models; minoxidil used as a comparator in the animal experiments.
DurationVaried by animal and cell experiment.
EndpointsHair regrowth; Hair follicle morphology; Dermal papilla cell viability; Oxidative stress; IL-6; IL-1β; TNF-α; NF-κB signaling; Androgen receptor; DKK-1; β-catenin; VEGF

What the study showed, in plain terms

Researchers tested NMN in a DHT-driven mouse hair-loss model and in human dermal papilla cells exposed to DHT.

NMN improved hair-related outcomes in mice and reduced oxidative/inflammatory stress in human dermal papilla cells, with changes in androgen-receptor, DKK-1, β-catenin and VEGF signaling.

This is useful mechanistic evidence for androgenetic-alopecia biology, but it does not show that taking an NMN supplement regrows human scalp hair.

Key findings

  • NMN improved hair-growth and follicle-related measures in a DHT-induced mouse model.
  • In human dermal papilla cells, NMN reduced DHT-associated inflammatory and oxidative-stress signaling.
  • NMN altered AR/DKK-1/β-catenin/VEGF pathways relevant to hair-follicle biology.
  • No human participants received NMN and no clinical hair-count outcome was measured.

What this study can and cannot tell us

Mouse hair-cycle biology and direct cell exposure do not establish efficacy for oral NMN in androgenetic alopecia.

The study did not randomize people to NMN versus placebo and did not measure scalp hair density, diameter or patient-important outcomes.

Direct comparison with minoxidil in a mouse model must not be rewritten as clinical equivalence to minoxidil in humans.

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Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction Dr. Amr Yasser, PhDCardiometabolic, Musculoskeletal, Gut & Bioavailability Dr. Abdulla Mostafa, PhDCellular Senescence, Neurological, Mitochondrial & Brain-Ageing Biology