Hair Follicles: A New Hope for Scar Treatment?

 

Scar tissue in the skin is devoid of blood vessels, sweat glands, hair, and nerves—all of which are necessary for controlling body temperature and perceiving pain and other sensations. In addition to possibly causing pain and psychological suffering, scarring can also limit movement. Scarring is a widespread, frequently incapacitating disorder that can be brought on by a number of different things, including burns, surgery, and traumatic injuries. The study has highlighted the possibility of hair follicle transplantation as a viable therapy option, despite the limited efficacy of conventional scarring treatments.

On our scalp, hair follicles are microscopic factories that produce new hair. The continuous regeneration of hair follicles promotes healthy blood flow and skin renewal, in contrast to scar tissue. Their special characteristic makes them interesting options for scar therapy. Significant alterations in the scars, such as the formation of new cells and blood vessels, the restoration of normal collagen patterns, and the expression of genes associated with healthy skin, are caused by transplanting anagen hair follicles into mature human scars. The creation of novel therapies for scarring on the skin and within the body will be greatly impacted by these discoveries. Mature scars can undergo significant genetic and architectural changes brought about by hair follicle transplantation, which can cause the scars to restructure and take on characteristics more like to normal, healthy skin.

 

The interdigitation of the epidermis-dermis interface and increased thickness of the epidermis were two of the positive outcomes of transplanted anagen hair follicles in scar tissue. More blood vessels and skin cells per unit area. Reduction of the overall collagen fraction and aligned fibers as a result of collagen fibers remodeling . Change in the expression profile of cytokines and genes in scar tissue, characterized by a decrease in the expression of pro-fibrotic factors such as TGF-β1, IL-13, and IL-6.

These anatomical alterations imply that hair follicles might cause significant genetic and architectural alterations in mature scars, encouraging a remodeling process that brings the scar tissue closer to the skin's normal, unaffected state. The hypothesis put forth by those studying states that hair follicles mediate this remodeling by paracrine signaling, thereby producing growth factors such as VEGF and EGF that promote angiogenesis, cellular proliferation, and tissue regeneration.

REFERENCES :

Plotczyk, M., Jiménez, F., Limbu, S. et al. Anagen hair follicles transplanted into mature human scars remodel fibrotic tissue. npj Regen Med 8, 1 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41536-022-00270-3

IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Cover image : https://www.equibotanics.com/blogs/news/how-to-reactivate-hair-follicles

2. NPJ Regenerative Medicine : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41536-022-00270-3