Gray Hair Cure Research 2018

May 11, 2018 /
Earlier this month, research coming out of the NIH and the University of Alabama made headlines for uncovering a piece of the biological puzzle which is the process of hair graying. The team behind the study determined that the immune system is highly involved in the proces of achromotrichia (hair graying) and that the transcription factor known as ‘MITF’ plays a key role.

This research presented by Harris and colleagues relates to a company already established in the hair growth industry, RiverTown Therapeutics. Their topical candidate RT1640 has been discussed previously for its ability to regenerate hair follicles, but is less well-known for another one of its attributes, gray hair reversal. The correlation between RT1640 and the research done by Harris et al. lies in one of the active ingredients of RT1640, cyclosporine A, which is an immunosuppressant. I reached out to RiverTown Therapeutics for any feedback on this new work by Harris and received a thoughtful response from RiverTown co-founder David Weinstein MD, PhD shown below.


Commentary From David Weinstein MD, PhD


“The work by Harris and colleagues (Harris ML, Fufa TD, Palmer JW, Joshi SS, Larson DM, Incao A, et al. (2018) A direct link between MITF, innate immunity, and hair graying. PLoS Biol 16(5): e2003648.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2003648) and reported recently in NewsWeek is interesting for a number of reasons. Transcription factors are proteins that are responsible for signalling what genes are turned on and off, in which cells and when. Dr. Harris’s work shows that a particular transcription factor in the melanocytic stems cells- the cells that give rise to the pigment producing cells in our bodies- called MITF- is at least in part responsible for instructing the melanocytic cells to add color to hair. In genetic experiments they showed that in mice that are susceptible to graying, removal of one copy of MITF leads to mottled graying, and removal of both copies leads to extensive graying. Importantly, they showed that MITF also represses genes that are influenced by the body’s inborn immune system. As we have known for a long time both emotional stress of immunologic stress can lead to precipitous graying. So these new data suggest that the MITF gene both drives the expression of hair color, it also protects against the daily small insults that result in minor inflammatory events. But big inflammatory stressors, like massive infections, overwhelm the ability of MITF to function, and hair grays.
 
While profoundly interesting, this work leaves some big open issues. The fact that this work needed to be done in animals with a pre-exiting susceptibility to graying suggests that MITF alone is not the whole story, there are likely to be other genes involved. What these other players are and how they work will be important before this work is ready for prime time. A second unanswered question is why is this a one way street?  Hair turns gray, but pigment  doesn’t reappear after the stressor is cleared. This suggests a more permanent change in either DNA structure or loss of gene expression. Our own work suggests that hair color can be restored with RT1640, suggesting that this compound is having profound effects of melanocytic stem cells in the hair follicle.
 
Not surprisingly, the take-home message here is that the molecular genetics of hair regulate how and when we gray.  A better understanding will give us insight into how to control these events.”

Along with the commentary, I also received this results photo comparison from RT1640 treatment to share with you all.
 

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12 Comments

  1. Prestige on May 12, 2018 at 7:50 am

    There are awsome news for premature hair grey suffers, including myself. unfortunatly i have both hair problems. Grey hair and temporal hair loss in my 30 years old. moreover i do not shave my hair because of my many many grey hair. Dying its not solution as many may think, believe me.
    Thanks administrator for post this article, i cant wait for this RT1640 is available.



  2. Follicle Thought on May 12, 2018 at 10:00 pm

    I agree, and Rt1640 does this too.



  3. Jarod on May 17, 2018 at 11:48 am

    Admin,
    it’s good to see that research is still ongoing. But please accept that the pictures provided does not illustrate any sort of miracle cure that all baldies would love to see. We have seen better before/after pic from minox alone. Even if comments bring some negativity, people are still hoping for a cure… anytime you post a new article it gives hope to many of us, even if disappointment is part of the game, at least hope is positive! And I guess that’s also why folks like Seba are still frequent visitors.
    We are not so far away from a real cure, and stemcell therapy will be the game changer. Thanks.



    • Follicle Thought on May 17, 2018 at 1:20 pm

      Jarod, I appreciate the kind words and for you being a reader.

      For a 6 month result in a 60 yr old man, my personal opinion is that this is a miracle. I don’t see minoxidil ever having this result in a 60yo man, maybe in a 22 yo (extremely rarely). We can agree to disagree, that’s fine.



  4. Chris2 on May 18, 2018 at 12:26 am

    Not understanding what the complaints are about, the pictures are about reversing grey hair to its natural colour. As far as I can see it looks great, I am sure if they wanted to talk about growing hair they would have had shown different pictures



  5. R.S on July 2, 2018 at 7:55 pm

    I have premature gray hair, which has put a bad influence on my lifestyle. I’m so disappointed for finding a treatment for it as it seems that no one cares, besides I hate dying hair. Researchers have found even more complicated methods for treating some diseases, but gray hair. I’m happy for seeing this photo. I’m waiting for any cure before I get old.



  6. J on July 9, 2018 at 12:52 am

    I had premature grey hair at only 27 years old. I know a lot of people going through the same thing as me. It definitely has impacted my self-esteem! I don’t like dying my hair because it is a hassle and I feel it’s doing more harm to my hair than good. I really really hope they push out a legitimate cure for grey hair very very soon, I can definitely see a huge market for this! I would definitely be one of the first ones in line.



  7. peter on July 11, 2018 at 6:37 am

    THE big question on everyones syrup is???, when does rt1640 become available as a topical or oral supplement grey hair corrector



    • Jason Looney on January 19, 2019 at 11:50 am

      lol…I’m curious how spell check changes “mind” into “syrup”; or did you type syrup on purpose. That would be the real gray head scratcher.



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