Skip to content
Silver ions are well known for their antibacterial and antiperspirant effects, and have a wide set of applications in daily life. These ions can also be formulated into silver nanoparticles by specific technologies, and can promote wound healing and hair growth. What is the rationale for this? Let’s check it out.
Researchers in the Department of Surgery at the University of Hong Kong stated that wound healing after burns has always been a tough problem to deal with. The use of silver nanoparticles in mice models has demonstrated that it can accelerate wound healing while reducing the recovery time from 35 to 25 days (control vs. ion-treated). Hair growth was also observed in the healed skin. This phenomenon was not observed in the control group.
Silver nanoparticles inhibit inflammation, and promote vascular regeneration while preventing the formation of scars
The same researchers also looked into the mechanism of action of silver nanoparticles. They found that the levels of IL-6 mRNA in wounded areas treated with these nanoparticles were maintained at statistically significant lower levels throughout the healing process. The mRNA levels of TGF-β, another pro-inflammatory cytokine, were also maintained at a lower level during the latter phases of healing. Meanwhile, angiogenesis-promoting VEGF expression levels were significantly increased. This may be associated with the secretion of IL-10 (inhibition of inflammation) in the initial phases as well as the upregulation of IFN-γ (inhibition of scarring) after silver nanoparticle treatment.
Silver nanoblog promotes hair formation
Three years later, another research team found similar hair promoting effects from using silver nanoparticles in rabbit models. Not only did the hair regenerate in 14 days, but the nanoparticles also made the new and surrounding hairs much darker. Further exploration found that silver nanoparticles promoted the production of secondary hair follicles by stimulating and invigorating the hair follicle stem cells in the area in which they were applied.
The findings shown above unanimously support the effects of silver nanoparticles on hair regeneration and were all serendipitous discoveries – that is the magic of scientific research.
REFERENCES:
- ChemMedChem. 2007 Jan;2(1):129-36. doi: 10.1002/cmdc.200600171.
- J Biomed Nanotechnol. 2010 Apr;6(2):192-7. doi: 10.1166/jbn.2010.1108.
