Obesity can affect hair thinning and loss, reveals study by Tokyo researchers

A new study has found the cause of how obesity can affect hair thinning. The researchers found that stem cells within hair follicles in mice were given a high-fat diet; their behaviour was different from those given a standard diet, according to ANI. The researchers suggested that inflammatory signals in the stem cells cause the difference between the two, resulting in hair thinning and hair loss. 

The findings of the study conducted by researchers of Tokyo Medical and Dental University has been published in the journal 'Nature'. A group of researchers from Tokyo Medical and Dental University used the mouse to examine how a high-fat diet can affect hair thinning and hair loss, according to ANI. The researchers found that obesity can cause depletion of hair follicle stem cells by the initiation of inflammatory signals that block hair follicle regeneration. 

Through the study, the researchers found that blocking hair follicle regeneration causes loss of hair follicles. Hironobu Morinaga, the lead author of the study, said, "High-fat diet feeding accelerates hair thinning by depleting HFSCs that replenish mature cells that grow hair, especially in old mice. We compared the gene expression in HFSCs between HFD-fed mice and standard diet-fed mice and traced the fate of those HFSC after their activation", according to ANI. Morinaga added that they found that HFSC in high-fibre diet-fed obese mice "change their fate in the skin surface" that "secrete sebum" after their activation. Furthermore, Morinaga revealed that these mice have faster hair loss and smaller hair follicles. 

Usually, hair follicle stem cells(HFSC) self renew every hair follicle cycle. It is reportedly part of the process which leads to the regrowth of hair. With humans ageing, the hair follicle stem cells cannot renew again, which causes less HFSC and ultimately leads to hair thinning, according to ANI. As per the report, people who are overweight have a high risk of androgenic alopecia. Researchers wanted to find how obesity enhances hair thinning. Emi K Nishimura, a senior author, explained that the "gene expression" in hair follicle stem cells from the high-fat-fed mice showed the activation of "inflammatory cytokine signalling within the HFSCS". Nishimura further described that inflammatory signals in HFSCs "strikingly repress Sonic hedgehog signalling, " which significantly influenced hair follicle regeneration in HFSCs. 

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Inputs from ANI