A team of Kyoto University researchers says
it has developed a soybean containing a substance that promotes hair
growth and helps prevent hair loss caused by chemotherapy.
The researchers, led by Masaaki Yoshikawa,
professor of food science and technology at Kyoto University, used
genetic engineering technology to incorporate an anti-hypertensive
substance derived from egg whites into the soybean.
"If we can confirm the safety of the soybean,
we may be able to promote hair growth or stop hair loss just by
eating them," Professor Yoshikawa said.
During the research, the team identified an
anti-hypertensive substance named ovokinin in an amino acid compound
found in ovalbumin in egg whites.
In order to enhance ovokinin's
anti-hypertensive property, the team created a substance named
novokinin by modifying some amino acids in ovokinin.
Confirming that novokinin is about 100 times
more anti-hypertensive than ovokinin, the team continued the study
on the assumption that novokinin may promote hair growth as it
expands blood vessels and promotes circulation.
The team fed shaven mice with one-thousandth
of a milligram of novokinin per one gram of their body weight and
found that their hair grew back faster.
When the team increased the dose by three to
10 times, it also stopped hair loss caused by chemotherapy.
The team believes that novokinin may also be
used as a hypertension drug as it lowers blood pressure within the
normal range.
- Kyodo
