A Japanese research group says oxytocin, a hormone often released by women before childbirth and during breastfeeding, may help promote hair growth.
Kageyama Tatsuto, a researcher at the Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology, and a research team at Yokohama National University published their findings in an international science journal.
The idea for the group's experiment came from anecdotes about body hair growing more during pregnancy. The team decided to examine a potential link between hair growth and oxytocin.
The researchers created hair follicles from human cells and applied oxytocin.
They found that after six days, hair grew about 1.3 times longer with oxytocin than without.
The results also showed that adding more oxytocin to hair follicles activated certain genes linked to hair growth.
Kageyama said he was surprised by the results, which indicate that pregnancy makes body hair grow faster.
He added that he hopes to use the findings to help develop treatments for hair loss.
Kageyama Tatsuto, a researcher at the Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology, and a research team at Yokohama National University published their findings in an international science journal.
The idea for the group's experiment came from anecdotes about body hair growing more during pregnancy. The team decided to examine a potential link between hair growth and oxytocin.
The researchers created hair follicles from human cells and applied oxytocin.
They found that after six days, hair grew about 1.3 times longer with oxytocin than without.
The results also showed that adding more oxytocin to hair follicles activated certain genes linked to hair growth.
Kageyama said he was surprised by the results, which indicate that pregnancy makes body hair grow faster.
He added that he hopes to use the findings to help develop treatments for hair loss.
Similar Readings (5 items)
Japanese researchers say they produced hair shafts in lab
Dogs shed more tears over owners than strangers
Japan proposes new measures to boost slumping birthrate
Japanese scientists say mammalian embryos develop normally in space
Japanese company developing drug to grow new teeth, plans for clinical trials on humans in 2024
Summary
Japanese researchers find that oxytocin, a hormone associated with childbirth and breastfeeding in women, may promote hair growth. The team from the Kanagawa Institute of Industrial Science and Technology and Yokohama National University published their findings in an international science
Statistics
158
Words1
Read CountDetails
ID: 204c73ef-bf45-43fe-bc66-e7afde0b3df5
Category ID: nhk
URL: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231229_08/
Date: Dec. 29, 2023
Created: 2023/12/29 19:00
Updated: 2025/12/08 19:37
Last Read: 2023/12/30 00:09