Beneficial Effect of Lard in Androgenic Alopecia

[md_a]

I found these two studies today. I'm thinking of a cream based on beef tallow for hair growth, which is simple, cheap and harmless. Maybe castor oil, a few drops of rosemary essential oil and maca oil can be added to the respective cream.

...........................

Beneficial Effect of Lard in Androgenic Alopecia

Abstract
Back ground: Alopecia is a most psychologically distressing phenomenon occurring in both sexes. Androgenic alopecia (AGA) is the most common form of alopecia affecting millions of people which is an androgen hormone based disorder. Although various medical strategies aimed in treating this disorder but results were only temporary for short period and there was no cure for this. Aim and objective: To evaluate the effect of lard (pig oil) for hair growth in androgenic alopecia. Material and methods: Pig oil were rendered from pork meat purchased from shop for edible purpose. Pig oil was applied topically over the scalp for more than six months to one of the author. Results: The beneficial hair growth promoting activity of pig oil was observed from the different photograph taken at various time points at the baseline,4 months and 8 months. This study showed that lard has some positive effect on hair growth.Conclusion:This study shows that in a single subject of androgenic alopecia lard has some positive effect on hair growth without any harm on other aspects of healthy living. Key words: androgenic alopecia, pig oil, hair promotion, minoxidil

Study protocol: The one of the author was a diagnosed candidate of androgenic alopecia (class 3V with frontal hairline recession and loss of hair in the crown of the head -Hamilton-Noorwood classification). He applied Minoxidil lotion for 6 months 3 years before but no sustained effect on the baldness has been noticed. Now for around one year he has been applying lard as prepared
by above method over his whole scalp before going to bed at night (around 5 g daily) and some effects has been noticed. Observational changes were recorded by using 8 megapixel camera photos focussing the area of crown and vertex from top view. The baseline photo was taken on 12 th June 2012, the second photo was taken on 12th September 2012 and the last photo was taken on January15th, 2013.

Results
Over the study period there is a sustained growth of hair in the scalp which is also understandable from the scalp photograph. The application of the pig oil appeared to be harmless before the user for all practical purpose. The photographs of the scalp before and after use of the lard are represented here for understanding of the readers (Fig 2).

Discussions
This study shows that in a single subject of androgenicalopecia lard has some positive effect on hair growthwithout any harm on other aspects of healthy living. W eunderstand that from result in a single subject no firm conclusion can be arrived at. But since there is no effective treatment of this widely prevalent disease our preliminary observations warrant a multicentric clinicaltrial to confirm our finding in a large group of humansubjects. In this context it is noteworthy that many internet sites are claiming that lard has some positive effect on hair growth but some scientific study about the matter is lacking as on date that should be done on an urgent basis. We advocate for the same. New: Easily available pork meat for edibile purpose is the source. so it could be the best approach without any known side effects.

https://cltri.gov.in/Pugazhendan/Beneficial Effect of Lard in Androgenic Alopecia.pdf

..................................


Hair Growth promoting activity of Pig oil on Wister rats
Surve G.M.*, Pawar M.H., Tembhurne S.V., Sakarkar D.M.
Department of Pharmacology, Sudhakarrao Naik Institute of Pharmacy, Pusad.(M.S.) India.

ABSTRACT
Common baldness, sometimes called male or female pattern baldness, accounts for 99 percent of
hair loss in men and women. Although its exact causes are unknown, heredity, hormones and age
are contributing factors. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the influence of pig
oil (Lard) on hair growth pattern in Wister rats. The hairs of one area of dorsal surface of rats
removed by the application of hair removal cream and the pig oil (0.5 ml) were applied.
Minoxidil (10%) was used as standard. The hair depilated regions were observed for the hair
growth initiation afterward the length of hair was measured at 15th, 21st, 30th and 40th day. The
result of present study indicates that the pig oil significantly potentiate to increase in hair growth
pattern in rats. The significant effect of pig oil start to observed from 15th day. The results were
comparatively more significant than standard Minoxidil. While the exact mechanism and
chemical constituent responsible for the hair growth promoting are need to explore.

The result of study shows that the complete hair growth was observed after 40 days in normal
animals. The application of test sample (Pig oil) and standard Minoxidil do not produce any
considerable effect on initiation of hair growth (approximately 7 days) compare to normal
animals while the chronic application of drugs for more than 15 days indicates to decrease in the
time interval for complete hair regrowth (Fig 1 and 2). The results of topical application of pig
oil found to normalize the hair pattern after 30 days approximately (the application of pig oil stop
thereafter) while for minoxidil it take more than 35 days for normal make up. Thus from the
results it concludes that pig oil more potentiate to increased the hair regrowth pattern compared
to minoxidil. While the exact mechanism in potentiation of hair regrowth by pig oil is unknown
thus there is need to explore pig oil for its potentiation for its hair growth activity.

https://www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com/articles/hair-growth-promoting-activity-of-pig-oil-on-wister-rats.pdf

 

[Runenight201]

Jesus H Christ they downplayed that hair growth by just saying "some" hair grew back. The dude's hair looks miles better!

Why do Tallow when this study used Lard?

 

[CreakyJoints]

Might references 17, 18, 19, and 20 in this study be of interest?

 

[Mauritio]

Interesting , thanks for sharing!

 

[Mauritio]

Might references 17, 18, 19, and 20 in this study be of interest?

That implies that the benefits migth be specific to pig lard. So if someone wants to replicate the study I think it would be best to use pig lard. It isnt even that high PUFA (its like 50% SFA, 40% MUFA 10% PUFA) and it is surprinsgly cheap as well.

 

[lamassu]

Cool

 

[hierundjetzt]

I found these two studies today. I'm thinking of a cream based on beef tallow for hair growth, which is simple, cheap and harmless. Maybe castor oil, a few drops of rosemary essential oil and maca oil can be added to the respective cream.

...........................

Beneficial Effect of Lard in Androgenic Alopecia

Abstract
Back ground: Alopecia is a most psychologically distressing phenomenon occurring in both sexes. Androgenic alopecia (AGA) is the most common form of alopecia affecting millions of people which is an androgen hormone based disorder. Although various medical strategies aimed in treating this disorder but results were only temporary for short period and there was no cure for this. Aim and objective: To evaluate the effect of lard (pig oil) for hair growth in androgenic alopecia. Material and methods: Pig oil were rendered from pork meat purchased from shop for edible purpose. Pig oil was applied topically over the scalp for more than six months to one of the author. Results: The beneficial hair growth promoting activity of pig oil was observed from the different photograph taken at various time points at the baseline,4 months and 8 months. This study showed that lard has some positive effect on hair growth.Conclusion:This study shows that in a single subject of androgenic alopecia lard has some positive effect on hair growth without any harm on other aspects of healthy living. Key words: androgenic alopecia, pig oil, hair promotion, minoxidil

Study protocol: The one of the author was a diagnosed candidate of androgenic alopecia (class 3V with frontal hairline recession and loss of hair in the crown of the head -Hamilton-Noorwood classification). He applied Minoxidil lotion for 6 months 3 years before but no sustained effect on the baldness has been noticed. Now for around one year he has been applying lard as prepared
by above method over his whole scalp before going to bed at night (around 5 g daily) and some effects has been noticed. Observational changes were recorded by using 8 megapixel camera photos focussing the area of crown and vertex from top view. The baseline photo was taken on 12 th June 2012, the second photo was taken on 12th September 2012 and the last photo was taken on January15th, 2013.

Results
Over the study period there is a sustained growth of hair in the scalp which is also understandable from the scalp photograph. The application of the pig oil appeared to be harmless before the user for all practical purpose. The photographs of the scalp before and after use of the lard are represented here for understanding of the readers (Fig 2).View attachment 59461

Discussions
This study shows that in a single subject of androgenicalopecia lard has some positive effect on hair growthwithout any harm on other aspects of healthy living. W eunderstand that from result in a single subject no firm conclusion can be arrived at. But since there is no effective treatment of this widely prevalent disease our preliminary observations warrant a multicentric clinicaltrial to confirm our finding in a large group of humansubjects. In this context it is noteworthy that many internet sites are claiming that lard has some positive effect on hair growth but some scientific study about the matter is lacking as on date that should be done on an urgent basis. We advocate for the same. New: Easily available pork meat for edibile purpose is the source. so it could be the best approach without any known side effects.

https://cltri.gov.in/Pugazhendan/Beneficial Effect of Lard in Androgenic Alopecia.pdf

..................................


Hair Growth promoting activity of Pig oil on Wister rats
Surve G.M.*, Pawar M.H., Tembhurne S.V., Sakarkar D.M.
Department of Pharmacology, Sudhakarrao Naik Institute of Pharmacy, Pusad.(M.S.) India.

ABSTRACT
Common baldness, sometimes called male or female pattern baldness, accounts for 99 percent of
hair loss in men and women. Although its exact causes are unknown, heredity, hormones and age
are contributing factors. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the influence of pig
oil (Lard) on hair growth pattern in Wister rats. The hairs of one area of dorsal surface of rats
removed by the application of hair removal cream and the pig oil (0.5 ml) were applied.
Minoxidil (10%) was used as standard. The hair depilated regions were observed for the hair
growth initiation afterward the length of hair was measured at 15th, 21st, 30th and 40th day. The
result of present study indicates that the pig oil significantly potentiate to increase in hair growth
pattern in rats. The significant effect of pig oil start to observed from 15th day. The results were
comparatively more significant than standard Minoxidil. While the exact mechanism and
chemical constituent responsible for the hair growth promoting are need to explore.

The result of study shows that the complete hair growth was observed after 40 days in normal
animals. The application of test sample (Pig oil) and standard Minoxidil do not produce any
considerable effect on initiation of hair growth (approximately 7 days) compare to normal
animals while the chronic application of drugs for more than 15 days indicates to decrease in the
time interval for complete hair regrowth (Fig 1 and 2). The results of topical application of pig
oil found to normalize the hair pattern after 30 days approximately (the application of pig oil stop
thereafter) while for minoxidil it take more than 35 days for normal make up. Thus from the
results it concludes that pig oil more potentiate to increased the hair regrowth pattern compared
to minoxidil. While the exact mechanism in potentiation of hair regrowth by pig oil is unknown
thus there is need to explore pig oil for its potentiation for its hair growth activity.

https://www.scholarsresearchlibrary.com/articles/hair-growth-promoting-activity-of-pig-oil-on-wister-rats.pdf

I think it is really a stretch and assumption that pig oil was responsible for the hair regrowth...maybe it was the actual massaging it in that caused it? In the article they did not mention how long and how the author massaged the lard into his scalp (or perhaps I missed it).

 

[CreakyJoints]

That implies that the benefits migth be specific to pig lard. So if someone wants to replicate the study I think it would be best to use pig lard. It isnt even that high PUFA (its like 50% SFA, 40% MUFA 10% PUFA) and it is surprinsgly cheap as well.

I think I've seen you mention Iberico pig lard in the past - does this tally with anything you might have come across about them before?

 

[Mauritio]

I think I've seen you mention Iberico pig lard in the past - does this tally with anything you might have come across about them before?

I was thinking about exactly that when I read this thread.
I thought a lot about what exactly it could have been in the iberian pig lard, but Im not sure, maybe a specific fatty acid.
Haidut often talked about the synergy of a slightly unsaturated substance combined with a saturated one and that would be more present in lard than in coconut oil, but it would also be present in olive oil, which didnt have that effect...
This simply corroborates the fact that it might be something specific to pig lard, since more saturated fats, like coconut oil did not have the same testosterone enhancing effect. So maybe the same is true for hair loss and pig lard...

 

[CreakyJoints]

I was thinking about exactly that when I read this thread.
I thought a lot about what exactly it could have been in the iberian pig lard, but Im not sure, maybe a specific fatty acid.
Haidut often talked about the synergy of a slightly unsaturated substance combined with a saturated one and that would be more present in lard than in coconut oil, but it would also be present in olive oil, which didnt have that effect...
This simply corroborates the fact that it might be something specific to pig lard, since more saturated fats, like coconut oil did not have the same testosterone enhancing effect. So maybe the same is true for hair loss and pig lard...

Yes, I'm glad you commented here! It's relatively inexpensive if someone were to try topical application for raising testosterone. I do have some questions about it though, perhaps you have some thoughts too?

I doubt it's out there, but I'd love to see a study about the relative nutrient content between different breeds of pig with different diets. Ray tells a story in one interview about the PUFA content of pork varying wildly, with one supplier sending him a sample of bacon with negligible values - I think he put it down to diet. It's strange though, I found a clip of him discussing acorns in a squirrel experiment and described them as PUFA-laden and increasing serotonin (unless I've misunderstood). From this site below (and I can't really comment on the reliability of the information here), it seems consumption of acorns is not especially in line with Ray's ideas, but of course the fat content might paint a very different picture. I've also come across another source stating they contain a decent amount of vitamin A, so who knows if this is even any use?

Nutritional content of acorns.

However, I came across this further study, below, which I still need to go over a second time; it states that the PUFA content of acorns varies a lot too - however they generally seem to contain appreciable amounts of linoleic acid, which I think I'm right in saying is rather undesirable. Again, I'm not sure how this might translate into the actual lard once rendered.

Chemistry of acorn oil.

It's all very curious. I wonder if any suppliers of Iberico pork lard would be willing or able to provide analyses?

 

[Mauritio]

Yes, I'm glad you commented here! It's relatively inexpensive if someone were to try topical application for raising testosterone. I do have some questions about it though, perhaps you have some thoughts too?

I doubt it's out there, but I'd love to see a study about the relative nutrient content between different breeds of pig with different diets. Ray tells a story in one interview about the PUFA content of pork varying wildly, with one supplier sending him a sample of bacon with negligible values - I think he put it down to diet. It's strange though, I found a clip of him discussing acorns in a squirrel experiment and described them as PUFA-laden and increasing serotonin (unless I've misunderstood). From this site below (and I can't really comment on the reliability of the information here), it seems consumption of acorns is not especially in line with Ray's ideas, but of course the fat content might paint a very different picture. I've also come across another source stating they contain a decent amount of vitamin A, so who knows if this is even any use?

Nutritional content of acorns.

However, I came across this further study, below, which I still need to go over a second time; it states that the PUFA content of acorns varies a lot too - however they generally seem to contain appreciable amounts of linoleic acid, which I think I'm right in saying is rather undesirable. Again, I'm not sure how this might translate into the actual lard once rendered.

Chemistry of acorn oil.

It's all very curious. I wonder if any suppliers of Iberico pork lard would be willing or able to provide analyses?

I send Ray the orginal study and asked him why the acorn diet lead to such results. He said that they would have less PUFA with that diet. Curiously the study authors suspected the opposite, they said that the higer PUFA content might be the cause of higher T.
- Ray Peat Email Advice Depository , Ray did inlcude a paper showing that Iberian pig lards have about 10% PUFA

I think they included an analysis of the fatty acids of the iberian pig lard and IIRC it did indeed contain more PUFA, I'll try to dig this up.
I remember trying some wild pig lard and it felt really androgenic, but it didnt agree with my stomach.

 

[Mauritio]

I found the Original study. I think it does not have to with fatty acid composition, since lard and olive oil have almost the same ratio of fatty acids and olive oil was the worst in terms of T out of all the oils tested. So it cant really be the "low" PUFA content of the lard.

Sci-Hub | Dietary Fat Influences Testosterone, Cholesterol, Aminopeptidase A, and Blood Pressure in Male Rats. Hormone and Metabolic Research, 40(4), 289–291 | 10.1055/s-2008-1046800

 

[Apple]

I found the Original study. I think it does not have to with fatty acid composition, since lard and olive oil have almost the same ratio of fatty acids and olive oil was the worst in terms of T out of all the oils tested. So it cant really be the "low" PUFA content of the lard

I think it is not about fat compostion but rather vitamin k2 (menaquinones). There are studies on pork , showing fatty pork sausages to be the richest sourse of k2 (mk-4, mk-10, mk-11). The vitamin K2 content of processed pork products increased with their fat content.
And some amount of PUFA in lard is actually helpful because PUFAs work as solvents on skin, thus allowing more k2 to penetrate into tissue.

 

[Mauritio]

I think it is not about fat compostion but rather vitamin k2 (menaquinones). There are studies on pork , showing fatty pork sausages to be the richest sourse of k2 (mk-4, mk-10, mk-11). The vitamin K2 content of processed pork products increased with their fat content.
And some amount of PUFA in lard is actually helpful because PUFAs work as solvents on skin, thus allowing more k2 to penetrate into tissue.

I dont think the amount of K2 in lard is enough to explain the increase in T . And it was given orally so the skin penetration issue was not a factor.

 

[Apple]

I dont think the amount of K2 in lard is enough to explain the increase in T . And it was given orally so the skin penetration issue was not a factor.

In the study above the lard was applied topically , not orally :
"pig oil was applied topically over the scalp fo more than 6 month"
The results of topical application of pig oil found good hair growth on the 30th day while the results for the group that applied topical Minoxidil showed results on the 35th day.
“The results showed that pig oil has better potential for hair growth than Minoxidil,”

 

[Mauritio]

In the study above the lard was applied topically , not orally :
"pig oil was applied topically over the scalp fo more than 6 month"
The results of topical application of pig oil found good hair growth on the 30th day while the results for the group that applied topical Minoxidil showed results on the 35th day.
“The results showed that pig oil has better potential for hair growth than Minoxidil,”

We were talking about a different study using iberian pig lard for Testosterone enhancement.

 

[CreakyJoints]

I send Ray the orginal study and asked him why the acorn diet lead to such results. He said that they would have less PUFA with that diet. Curiously the study authors suspected the opposite, they said that the higer PUFA content might be the cause of higher T.
- Ray Peat Email Advice Depository , Ray did inlcude a paper showing that Iberian pig lards have about 10% PUFA

I think they included an analysis of the fatty acids of the iberian pig lard and IIRC it did indeed contain more PUFA, I'll try to dig this up.
I remember trying some wild pig lard and it felt really androgenic, but it didnt agree with my stomach.

I'm thrilled you managed to ask him. This is quite interesting, the study he sent you actually raises more questions for me and seems to suggest that acorns themselves do indeed have quite a high degree of variance - unless pasture is a very important factor here and perhaps the acorn oil study isn't especially useful? Does pasture increase vitamin E content, perhaps, and this can go some way to offsetting the PUFA? Does this translate to the lard? It's unfortunate he didn't chime in with your musing about acorns, because he has mentioned them at least once before. A good thing to note from the study he sent too: not all Iberian ham will have the same diet...!

 

[md_a]

Consumption of fish oil high-fat diet induces murine hair loss via epidermal fatty acid binding protein in skin macrophages​

Highlights​

• •
  Consumption of fish oil HFD, but not cocoa butter HFD, induces murine hair loss
• •
  TNF-α signaling in CD207− macrophages mediates fish oil HFD-induced hair loss
• •
  E-FABP is essential in the n-3 fatty acid-induced ROS/IL-36/TNF-α axis in skin macrophages
• •
  E-FABP deficiency protects mice from fish oil HFD-induced hair loss

Summary​

Fats are essential in healthy diets, but how dietary fats affect immune cell function and overall health is not well understood. Mimicking human high-fat diets (HFDs), which are rich in different fatty acid (FA) components, we fed mice various HFDs from different fat sources, including fish oil and cocoa butter. Mice consuming the fish oil HFD exhibit a hair-loss phenotype. Further studies show that omega-3 (n-3) FAs in fish oil promote atypical infiltration of CD207− (langerin−) myeloid macrophages in skin dermis, which induce hair loss through elevated TNF-α signaling. Mechanistically, epidermal fatty acid binding protein (E-FABP) is demonstrated to play an essential role in inducing TNF-α-mediated hair loss by activating the n-3 FA/ROS/IL-36 signaling pathway in dermal resident macrophages. Absence of E-FABP abrogates fish oil HFD-induced murine hair loss. Altogether, these findings support a role for E-FABP as a lipid sensor mediating n-3 FA-regulated macrophage function and skin health.

Discussion​

n-3 FAs in fish oil are generally believed to have multiple health benefits, such as promoting brain and skin health, reversing/preventing inflammation, lowering blood pressure, and reducing cardiovascular diseases.27 Our own studies also demonstrated that consumption of fish oil HFD exhibited an anti-tumor effect when compared with cocoa butter HFD.17 However, fish oil diets have many downstream effects. The possibility exists that not all may be considered favorable. In the current studies, we reported a serendipitous but consistent observation that consumption of fish oil HFD induced substantial hair loss in murine models. Further analysis uncovered a molecular mechanism underlying this intriguing phenotype.

Dietary fats mainly composed of long-chain FAs are absorbed and transported in the form of chylomicrons via lymphatic vessels. After draining into large veins, chylomicrons are delivered throughout the body and delipidated through the action of lipoprotein lipases (LPLs) on the endothelial surface of the capillaries in peripheral tissues.28 Depending on the distribution and organ-specific LPL actions, different tissues exhibit different capabilities and preferences in lipid uptake.29 When we tracked the distribution of n-3 FAs and saturated FAs in vivo, we observed that saturated FAs were predominantly distributed in the epididymal visceral fat, while n-3 FAs were accumulated more in skin subcutaneous fat. Given that visceral fat is more metabolically active than subcutaneous fat,30 it is not surprising to see that consumption of cocoa butter HFD was associated with elevated systemic inflammation and accelerated tumor growth when compared with fish oil HFD.17 However, when mice were fed fish oil HFD over 3 months, 80% of the mice exhibited obvious patch-like hair loss, whereas randomized littermates on the LFD or cocoa butter HFD did not, indicating a specific skin phenotype induced by the fish oil diet.

To determine the mechanisms of fish oil diet-induced hair loss, we excluded the possibility of diet-related behavioral alterations, such as grooming or fighting, as singly housed mice also exhibited hair loss. Gut dysbiosis was also unlikely to be involved in this diet-induced alopecia, as mice treated with or without antibiotics developed similar degrees of hair loss. C57BL/6 mice usually exhibit highly coordinated hair follicle cycling consisting of anagen (1–3 weeks), catagen (∼2 days), and telogen (∼2 weeks) phases early in life.31 When littermates (3–4 weeks of age) were randomly weaned on different diets, we noticed that fish oil HFD-induced hair loss started on the back of the mice around 2 months on the diet, which corresponded to the telogen phase at this stage. HFSCs are essential in cyclic growth of hair follicles and regeneration.22,32 Notably, n-3 FAs did not directly impact HFSC apoptosis in vitro, but mice consuming fish oil HFD exhibited extensive perifollicular macrophage infiltration and apoptosis of CD34+ HFSCs in vivo, suggesting that fish oil HFD-induced immune environmental alterations in the skin impaired HFSC activity.

Emerging studies suggest that human skin macrophages are engaged in hair growth control.33 Using the CyTOF technology, we identified a subset of dermal macrophages (CD207−CD11b+F4/80+MHCII+CD11c−) that were specifically upregulated in the fish oil HFD-fed mice. Interestingly, this macrophage subset highly expressed TNF-α, a paradoxical cytokine involved in hair follicle biology. On one hand, appropriate TNF-α signaling can stimulate hair follicle (HF) regeneration in homeostatic and wound-induced conditions,34 which was supported by random case reports that hair loss occurred during clinical therapy with TNF-α inhibitors.35 On the other hand, superfluous levels of TNF-α have been associated with forms of human alopecia.36 Given elevated levels of TNF-α in the skin of mice with fish oil-induced hair loss, we treated these mice with anti-TNF-α neutralizing antibody to see if blocking TNF-α signaling would revive hair growth. Indeed, fish oil-induced hair loss was reversed following treatment with anti-TNF-α antibody. These data indicate a mechanism by which the fish oil diet induced activation of dermal CD207− macrophages for excessive TNF-α signaling, which acts as an immune checkpoint inhibiting hair regeneration.

CD207 (also known as langerin) is a well-known surface receptor for skin-resident Langerhans cells,37 which function as the main lipid-processing population and provide the first immunological barrier to foreign substances in the skin.16,38 Our flow cytometric and CyTOF data confirmed that CD207+ cells were distributed in both epidermis and dermis regardless of diet. However, CD207− myeloid macrophages were accumulated only in the dermis of fish oil HFD-fed mice. To determine how the fish oil diet induced the infiltration of CD207− myeloid macrophages, we found that n-3 FAs were preferentially enriched in the skin and induced ROS/IL-36 signaling in skin-resident macrophages. In line with the well-characterized effect of IL-36 in promoting infiltration and activation of myeloid macrophages in skin,23,24 our data support the critical role of IL-36 in myeloid macrophage skin accumulation and identified n-3 FAs as upstream activators of IL-36 signaling.

To further dissect how n-3 FAs activated ROS/IL-36 signaling in the skin, we found that E-FABP, a skin-specific FA chaperone, was essential in mediating n-3 FA responses. E-FABP was originally identified in the skin as psoriasis-associated FABP with unknown functions. Studies from our group and others demonstrated that E-FABP binds an array of hydrophobic ligands, including n-3 FAs, retinoic acid (RA), and saturated FAs, and facilitates different ligand-mediated lipid responses.11,12,39,40,41 For example, E-FABP can channel RA to activate PPARβ/δ signaling for cell survival, whereas E-FABP binds saturated FAs to promote inflammasome activation. Herein, our data uncovered a function of E-FABP, which facilities n-3 FA-mediated ROS/IL-36 signaling in skin macrophages. Specifically, E-FABP functions at at least two checkpoints: (1) facilitation of n-3 FA-induced ROS production and (2) promotion of IL-36-mediated TNF-α production. Moreover, genetic deletion of E-FABP expression completely abrogated fish oil HFD-induced hair loss, further highlighting the essential role of E-FABP in n-3 FA-mediated unfavorable skin responses.

Fish oil diet is not typically associated with hair loss disorders in humans. Instead, although lacking solid scientific evidence, it is generally thought that n-3 FAs benefit hair follicles and scalp by improving blood circulation. It is worth noting that common American diets contain very little n-3 FA, and the FDA-approved dose of n-3 FA supplements/drugs accounts for only 1.2%–5% of the total daily fat intake.8 Thus, the adverse effects of n-3 FAs on hair growth may be underestimated at these low consumption levels. Interestingly, we noticed that nations that rely heavily on fatty fish as a food source (such as Japan) exhibit the most hair loss when compared with other Asian countries.42 Case reports that a diet high in tuna induced hair loss43 also support our observations in animal studies. While hair loss takes on a wide variety of forms and may be due to multiple inborn properties and environmental triggers,44 our well-controlled animal studies have provided solid evidence to support that overconsumption of n-3 FAs confers a detrimental effect by causing diet-induced hair loss.

In summary, we demonstrated that consumption of fish oil HFD induces hair loss via E-FABP-dependent immunoregulatory effects. Following lipid absorption, n-3 FAs were preferably enriched in the skin, where E-FABP expression in CD207+ resident skin macrophages plays an essential role in mediating n-3 FA/ROS/IL-36 signaling, which further promotes infiltration/activation of CD207− myeloid macrophages, therefore leading to TNF-α-mediated immune inhibition on HFSCs. Altogether, these studies not only provide a cellular and molecular mechanism by which consumption of n-3 FAs activates skin macrophages through E-FABP/ROS/IL-36/TNF-α signaling, thus promoting fish oil-induced hair loss, but also have clinical implications for understanding the etiology of dietary fat-associated hair health.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124722016928

 

[CreakyJoints]

@Mauritio I'm following up on this quite slowly, I know; I've been quite busy lately, so I'm sorry for the delay! I've tried to find a good source of Iberico belotta lard but it's not been especially straightforward. The few products I have found all have sunflower oil and other things added. I did find big slabs of back fat bacon, which seems to only have salt added. I've eaten some already! Very enjoyable.

I'm considering rendering it myself and putting it in little jars for later use, but I'm conscious of compounds degrading too much; I might try something like sous vide for many hours at a very low temperature. I believe 5-Dodecanolide may begin to degrade most after 180°C? I just stumbled on that one and have yet to properly go through it. Am I right in perhaps assuming that 5-Dodecanolide and most of the vitamin content would remain relatively stable at say: 60°C if heated for several hours? Do you see any drawbacks to this method yourself, or do you have any insights which might be helpful before I go ahead and try it?

 

[Mauritio]

@Mauritio I'm following up on this quite slowly, I know; I've been quite busy lately, so I'm sorry for the delay! I've tried to find a good source of Iberico belotta lard but it's not been especially straightforward. The few products I have found all have sunflower oil and other things added. I did find big slabs of back fat bacon, which seems to only have salt added. I've eaten some already! Very enjoyable.

I'm considering rendering it myself and putting it in little jars for later use, but I'm conscious of compounds degrading too much; I might try something like sous vide for many hours at a very low temperature. I believe 5-Dodecanolide may begin to degrade most after 180°C? I just stumbled on that one and have yet to properly go through it. Am I right in perhaps assuming that 5-Dodecanolide and most of the vitamin content would remain relatively stable at say: 60°C if heated for several hours? Do you see any drawbacks to this method yourself, or do you have any insights which might be helpful before I go ahead and try it?

Sorry I cant help you with that.