Author(s)

Fernando Amaral¹, Maira Jardim¹, Valeria Maria de Souza Antunes^1,2, Luis Felipe Gomes Michelin³, Bárbara Anaís Rodrigues dos Santos², Christiano Marcelo Vaz Barbosa⁴, Daniel Gonsales Spindola^1,2,5, Claudia Bincoletto⁵, Carlos Rocha Oliveira^1,2,5*

¹Instituto de Osmologia e óleos Essenciais, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
²Grupo de Fitocomplexos e Sinalização Celular, Escola de Ciência da Saúde, Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil.
³Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Bioquímica, Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁴Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Bioquímica, Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁵Departamento de Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.

The human hair follicle, a mini-organ formed with neuroectodermal-meso-dermal interaction, is a complex structure, in the active steady state (anagen) the dermal papilla can be considered as a ball of extracellular matrix, surrounding specialized fibroblasts. The cross-talk of dermal papilla with neighbouring matrix cells results in the maintenance of hair fibre production. This study aimed to investigate the proliferative potential of the compound Trichotech^TM, a phytocomplex obtained from a mixture of essential oils, on cultured human fibroblasts and its ability to modulate the gene expression of FGF-7 and FGF-10. Trichotech^TM was shown to enhance fibroblasts proliferation in concentrations of 0.5% to 2.0%, and also increase the percentage of cells in the S/G2/M phases of the cell cycle. Trichotech^TM at both 1.0% and 2.0% induced a statistically significant effect on wound healing assay compared to the untreated control. We examined the interaction between cell survival (PI3K/Akt) and mitogenic (Ras/MAPK) signal transduction pathways after Trichotech^TM treatment (1.0% and 2.0%) on the fibroblast cell line. Trichotech^TM caused phosphorylation of ERK1/2, as well as greater phosphorylation of MEK in comparison with both the untreated control and ERK1/2. PI3K and AKT, however, were not shown to be significantly more phosphorylated following TrichotechTM exposure. To verify the relative expression of mRNA for FGF-7 and FGF-10 genes, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) protocol was used. Results show the increase in mRNA expression by fibroblasts after treatment with Trichotech^TM. In both concentrations tested, Trichotech^TM was found to increase the expression of FGF-7 and FGF-10. Sirius red staining allows for rapid assessment of collagen content, it showed a significant increase in collagen content in treated fibroblasts. Further investigation concerning Trichotech^TM could be helpful towards the development of new bioactive phytocomplexes for dermatological and trichological use.

TrichoTech^TM, Fibroblasts, Proliferation, FGF-7, FGF-10

Amaral, F. , Jardim, M. , de Souza Antunes, V. , Michelin, L. , dos Santos, B. , Barbosa, C. , Spindola, D. , Bincoletto, C. and Oliveira, C. (2017) In Vitro Effects of the Phytocomplex TrichoTech^TM on Human Fibroblasts: Proliferative Potential and Effects on Gene Expression of FGF-7 and FGF-10. Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 7, 1-13. doi: 10.4236/jcdsa.2017.71001.