Rekze Laboratories has decided to use Apigenin in its line of anti-hair loss and hair growth stimulating products, for ’24’ hair growth treatment serum and ’28’ treatment wipes in particular.

Multiple clinical studies suggest that Apigenin, known to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties, can stimulate hair growth.

Androgen-inducible transforming growth factor β (TGF-β1), found in dermal papilla cells, gives the signal for hair follicles to terminate the anagen growth phase and move into the catagen transitional phase. In one study, human epidermal keratinocytes treated with apigenin showed decreased levels of TGF-β1 expression, thus increased proliferation of both the papilla cells and the keratinocytes.

In a study using murine hair-follicle organ culture, apigenin stimulated the elongation of hair follicles, a process necessary for the anagen phase of hair growth. As a flavone, apigenin exerts anti-inflammatory activities. In a murine study of the compound’s anti-allergic effects in vivo, researchers experimented with dietary apigenin to treat atopic dermatitis, a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by eczematous skin lesions. The treatment alleviated development of skin lesions significantly.

Known to possess preventive activities against skin tumors induced by ultraviolet radiation such as sunshine, a study using human keratinocyte cell lines found that apigenin inhibited the COX-2 protein, whose over-expression plays an important role in carcinogenesis.