Speaking to us at the recent Vitafoods Asia show in Singapore, Bryan See told us how researchers at the Ohio State University Medical Center found the pathway that mirrored what is known as the ‘Yamanaka Transcription Factors’, first identified by stem cell expert Dr Shinya Yamanaka, the co-winner of the 2012 Nobel award for medicine.
"He discovered that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent," said See.
"And in this case, it can induce hair follicle genesis in the mature cells. The lead researcher concluded that palm tocotrienol can induce hair folliculogenesis, which means that it can enrich the skin stem cell reserves."
Clinical trial
In the video, See explains how this finding adds greater context to a 2010 trial, where subjects given a tocotrienol supplement experienced "significant hair growth".
After eight months of tocotrienol supplementation, eight volunteers (40%) showed over 50% hair growth, with a further nine (45%) showing 10% to 25% hair growth.
See said the tocotrienol ingredient was suitable for use in oral supplements and for topical application.
He pointed out that several major cosmetic firms were already using the product, and predicted there would be imminent sales growth in the nutri-cosmetics space, with hair-loss among the top three health and wellness concerns among male consumers in APAC.
Watch the video to find out more.