Wnt/β-catenin signaling activator restores hair regeneration suppressed by diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most prevalent diseases in modern society. Many complicationssuch as hepatic cirrhosis, neuropathy, cardiac infarction, and so on are associated with diabetes. Although a relationship between diabetes and hair loss has been recently reported, the treatment of diabetic hair loss by Wnt/β-catenin activators has not been achieved yet. In this study, we found that the depilation-induced anagen phase was delayed in both db/db mice and high-fat diet (HFD) and streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. In diabetic mice, both hair regrowth and wound-induced hair follicle neogenesis (WIHN) were reduced because of suppression of Wnt/βcatenin signaling and decreased proliferation of hair follicle cells. We identified that KY19382, a small molecule that activates Wnt/β-catenin signaling, restored the capabilities of regrowth and WIHN in diabetic mice. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling activator also increased the length of the human hair follicle which was decreased under high glucose culture conditions. Overall, the diabetic condition reduced both hair regrowth and regeneration with suppression of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Consequently, the usage of Wnt/β-catenin signaling activators could be a potential strategy to treat diabetes-induced alopecia patients. [

Modulating embryonic signaling pathways paves the way for regeneration in wound healing

“…Intriguingly, like hair growth and cycling, also WIHN was affected in diabetic mice but could be restored by a small molecule activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling (Ryu et al, 2022). Interestingly, recent findings suggest that high glucose levels also affect the immunomodulatory functions of fibroblasts (Al-Rikabi et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2022).…”