Connarus semidecandrus Jack Exerts Anti-Alopecia Effects by Targeting 5α-Reductase Activity and an Intrinsic Apoptotic Pathway

There is a growing demand for hair loss treatments with minimal side effects and recurrence potential. Connarus semidecandrus Jack has been used as a folk medicine for fever in tropical regions, but its anti-alopecia effects remain unclear. In this study, the anti-androgenic alopecia effect of an ethanol extract of Connarus semidecandrus Jack (Cs-EE) was demonstrated in a testosterone-induced androgenic alopecia (AGA) model, in terms of the hair–skin ratio, hair type frequency, and hair thickness. The area of restored hair growth and thickened hair population after Cs-EE treatment showed the hair-growth-promoting effect of Cs-EE. Histological data support the possibility that Cs-EE could reduce hair loss and upregulate hair proliferation in mouse skin by shifting hair follicles from the catagen phase to the anagen phase. Western blotting indicated that Cs-EE reduced the expression of the androgenic receptor. Cs-EE treatment also inhibited programmed cell death by upregulating Bcl-2 expression at the mRNA and protein levels. The anti-alopecia effect of Cs-EE was confirmed by in vitro experiments showing that Cs-EE had suppressive effects on 5-α reductase activity and lymph node carcinoma of the prostate proliferation, and a proliferative effect on human hair-follicle dermal papilla (HDP) cells. Apoptotic pathways in HDP cells were downregulated by Cs-EE treatment. Thus, Cs-EE could be a potential treatment for AGA.     

The Combination of Niacinamide,Vitamin C,and PDRN Mitigates Melanogenesis by Modulating Nicotinamide Nucleotide Transhydrogenase

Nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase (NNT) is involved in decreasing melanogenesis through tyrosinase degradation induced by cellular redox changes. Nicotinamide is a component of coenzymes, such as NAD⁺, NADH, NADP⁺, and NADPH, and its levels are modulated by NNT. Vitamin C and polydeoxyribonucleotide (PDRN) are also known to decrease skin pigmentation. We evaluated whether a mixture of nicotinamide, vitamin C, and PDRN (NVP-mix) decreased melanogenesis by modulating mitochondrial oxidative stress and NNT expression in UV-B-irradiated animals and in an in vitro model of melanocytes treated with conditioned media (CM) from UV-B-irradiated keratinocytes. The expression of NNT, GSH/GSSG, and NADPH/NADP⁺ in UV-B-irradiated animal skin was significantly decreased by UV-B radiation but increased by NVP-mix treatment. The expression of NNT, GSH/GSSG, and NADPH/NADP⁺ ratios decreased in melanocytes after CM treatment, although they increased after NVP-mix administration. In NNT-silenced melanocytes, the GSH/GSSG and NADPH/NADP⁺ ratios were further decreased by CM compared with normal melanocytes. NVP-mix decreased melanogenesis signals, such as MC1R, MITF, TYRP1, and TYRP2, and decreased melanosome transfer-related signals, such as RAB32 and RAB27A, in UV-B-irradiated animal skin. NVP-mix also decreased MC1R, MITF, TYRP1, TYRP2, RAB32, and RAB27A in melanocytes treated with CM from UV-irradiated keratinocytes. The expression of MC1R and MITF in melanocytes after CM treatment was unchanged by NNT silencing. However, the expression of TYRP1, TYRP2, RAB32, and RAB27A increased in NNT-silenced melanocytes after CM treatment. NVP-mix also decreased tyrosinase activity and melanin content in UV-B-irradiated animal skin and CM-treated melanocytes. In conclusion, NVP-mix decreased mitochondrial oxidative stress by increasing NNT expression and decreased melanogenesis by decreasing MC1R/MITF, tyrosinase, TYRP1, and TYRP2.     

Suppression of secondary PL emission by indirect photoexcitation

A blend of a newly synthesized polyfluorene(PDHBF) and polyvinylcarbazole(PVK) exhibits a photoluminescence(PL) emission spectrum of PDHBF without an increase in the PL intensity on photoexcitation at 340 nm, the UV-visible absorption maximum of PVK, despite of a substantial spectrum overlap. However, the indirect photoexcitation of the blend suppresses the secondary emission of the PL with the maximum at 520 nm. The chromophores generating the secondary emission are formed when the chromophores are photoexcited above the critical energy level of an excited state. The chromophores formed by the energy transfer have energy lower than the critical energy and fail to form the excimers. A low temperature PL study of the blend in a cryogenic chamber proves that the energy transfer in the system takes place mainly between the excimers of PVK generated by the partially eclipsed dimeric states of two carbazole units and the fluorophores of PDHBF.     

Estimates for the p-Laplacian-type operator in the subcritical Sobolev exponent range

We obtain Calderón–Zygmund-type gradient estimates below the duality exponent of very weak solutions to p-Laplacian-type elliptic equations with non-divergence datum by providing an analytic approach without using the fractional maximal function of order 1 for the non-divergence datum.     

Copolymerization of ethylene with allylbenzene using rac-ethylenebis(indenyl)zirconium dichloride/methylaluminoxane as a catalyst

Ethylene was copolymerized with allylbenzene using rac-ethylenebis(indenyl)zirconium dichloride (Et(Ind)₂ZrCl₂)/methylaluminoxane (MAO) as a catalyst. Analysis of the copolymers obtained revealed that chain transfer to aluminium was a preferred chain transfer reaction during the copolymerization. It seems that chain termination through aluminium transfer is induced by the allylbenzene unit incorporated in the propagating chain end. Hydroxy-terminated ethylene copolymers were obtained when the copolymer solution was exposed to air before precipitation of the polymer in acidic methanol.