Establishment of in vivo models for trichogenic activities evaluation via hair follicle cycle regulation

Hair follicle is the organ of hair growth. Hair growth is highly associated with hair follicle cycle, which can be assessed by both promoting hair follicles from telogen to anagen and prolonging the anagen duration. In this study, according to the investigation of the hair follicle cycle in C57BL/6J mice, an evaluation model for the activity of hair follicles entering the anagen was established. Then, the hair follicle cycle was synchronized by beeswax-depilation, and the correspondence between the skin phenotypes and each phase of the hair follicle cycle was quantified, and the efficacy evaluation model for prolonging the anagen duration was innovatively constructed. Two mouse models established in this study can be utilized for active substances discovery and pharmacodynamic evaluation in vivo, which provides the methodology for development of hair growth promoting-drugs and health products. All animal experiments were approved by the Animal Care & Welfare Committee of Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College (approval numbers: 00001932, 00001933, 00007786, and 00007787).