Abstract
Phytochemicals from Dicerocaryum senecioides were studied for hair rejuvenation activity using BalB/c mice. Solvent extractions and thin layer chromatography (TLC) were used to extract and isolate the phytochemicals respectively. Phytochemicals were identified by spraying with target-specific revealing reagents. In vivo hair growth stimulating activity for each extract was tested on denuded dorsal skin of 5-week old BalB/c mice against the controls and the standard drug minoxidil. The parameters used to evaluate hair growth were hair growth completion time, hair length, hair weight, hair follicle length, and relative hair follicle area. The identified phytochemicals from the active ethanol extract were steroidal glycosides, triterpenoid glycosides, and flavonoid glycosides. Flavonoid glycosides treatment had the uppermost hair rejuvenation capacity as measured by the shortest hair growth completion time (19 days) versus control (29 days) and longest hair length (11.04 mm and 11.86 mm for male and female mice respectively while the control group had 5.15 mm for male mice and 5.33 mm for female mice). Hair growth stimulation by flavonoid glycosides was also dependent on dose concentration. It can be concluded from this study that flavonoid glycosides extracted from the leaves of Dicerocaryum senecioides have remarkable hair rejuvenation capacity in BalB/c mice. The present results provides insights on the use of Dicerocaryum senecioides for hair rejuvenation in traditional practices and on the potential of the plant as a source of novel compounds that can be used as hair growth promoters.