Science.

STOP PRESS!

In a study released in November 2022, the hair anchoring mechanism of action was clearly demonstrated in a gold standard clinical trial that showed a 43.1% reduction in hair fall.

Mechanism of Action

keraGEN-IV® affects metabolic pathways associated with hair, skin and nail health. A strong body of scientific data supports each component of the mechanisms of action, including a study on mechanism of action of keraGEN-IV® that has been published in the Journal of Experimental Dermatology (Tang et. al., 2012).

  • keraGEN-IV® promotes stronger hair follicles by boosting anchoring of follicles in the scalp. Analysis of hair follicles using an ex-vivo study has shown that keraGEN-IV® promotes increased expression of collagen IV, in particular in the hair follicle, strengthening the anchoring of the follicle into the skin, reducing hair fall and improving hair health.

  • keraGEN-IV® promotes wrinkle reduction by building the dermal epidermal junction. Collagens IV and VII are essential structural proteins that are the building blocks of the dermal-epidermal junction in the skin and hair follicle. Skin cells stimulated by keraGEN-IV® produced 3x more collagen IV than skin cells with no keraGEN-IV® present, and skin cells exposed to stress showed a 35% faster skin cell growth with keraGEN-IV® added as a nutrient. Production of collagen IV and collagen VII increased each day after the introduction of keraGEN-IV®.

  • keraGEN-IV® is uniquely positioned to provide the right amount of cystine, and the right balance of the other amino acids required, to provide the body with what it needs for strong, healthy nail growth.

  • keraGEN-IV® protects skin and hair from ageing stresses, caused by radical induced damage and inflammation to skin cells.

HAIR

keraGEN-IV® promotes stronger hair follicles by boosting anchoring of follicles in the scalp.

Analysis of hair follicles using an ex-vivo study has shown that keraGEN-IV® promotes increased expression of collagen IV in the hair follicle, strengthening the anchoring of the follicle into the skin and improving hair health (Roddick-Lanzilotta et. al., 2019). This is seen in histology of the hair follicles showing more of the purple stained collagen IV at the junction of the follicle and the skin in the bulb. The role of collagen IV is to hold the hair in the follicle, anchoring it into the head.

Histology of an ex-vivo explant of hair before keratin application (left) showing collagen IV at the follicle junction and anchoring of the bulb (arrows). Hair follicle 6 days after keratin treatment (right) shows thickening of collagen IV at the junction and greater anchoring in the bulb (arrows).

SKIN

KeraGEN-IV promotes wrinkle reduction by building the dermal epidermal junction.

Tang et. al. demonstrated that well-nourished skin cells exposed to stress showed a 35% faster skin cell growth with keraGEN-IV® added as a nutrient compared to standard cell nutrients, in particular increasing production of collagen IV and collagen VII each day after introduction of the keratin. Skin cells stimulated by keraGEN-IV® produced 3x as much collagen IV as cells with no keraGEN-IV® present.

Comparison of daily expression of collagen IV and collagen VII in skin cells (keratinocytes), when keratin is provided as a cell nutrient.

Collagens IV and VII are essential structural proteins that join the layers of the skin together and anchor hair into the hair follicle. As skin ages, these particular collagens degrade causing wrinkles to form. Rebuilding the right type of collagen at the base of each wrinkle is an important approach to reversing wrinkle formation due to age associated collagen degradation (Contet-Audonneau et al., 1999)

Smooth skin showing the collagen IV (green) in the junction between the epidermis (E) and the dermis (D).

Wrinkled skin showing absence of collagen IV at the base of a wrinkle (arrow). The junction between epidermis (E) and the dermis (D).

NAILS

keraGEN-IV® promotes healthy nail growth by providing the right amino acid balance.

keraGEN-IV® is pure keratin protein, the same protein that makes up nails. Keratin is characterised by a higher proportion of sulfur amino acids, in particular cystine, than any other protein. This leads to the characteristic toughness of nails, along with other keratin structures. Proteins common in nutrition and supplements, such as collagen (0g/100g), whey (2.1g/100g) and soy (1.1g/100g) have very low cystine content compared toå keratin (7-12g/100g) and as a result keraGEN-IVis uniquely positioned to provide the right amount of cystine, and the right balance of the other amino acids required, to provide the body with what it needs for strong, healthy nail growth.

PROTECTION FROM AGEING STRESSES

keraGEN-IV® protects skin and hair from ageing stresses, caused by radical induced damage and inflammation to skin cells.

Glutathione is the body’s master antioxidant, working within each cell of the body to protect it from stress arising from environmental insults and chronic inflammation. In addition, glutathione is a key detoxifying enzyme in the liver, driving the body’s ability to process daily stressful insults from the environment and from what we eat and drink.

Boosting the body’s glutathione is not as simple as supplementing with glutathione, rather the most effective supplementation comes from providing the necessary building blocks to enable the body to produce glutathione, most notably the amino acid cysteine. Cysteine is also the key building block for taurine synthesis (McPherson and Hardy 2011).

In a nutritional study of the core keratin component of keraGEN-IV®, it was shown that when keratin is supplemented as part of the diet, it is able to “spare” cysteine from the taurine pathway, thereby leaving it to more effectively boost glutathione synthesis, increasing liver glutathione levels and boosting endogenous antioxidant defence (Wolber et. al., 2016).

A major inflammatory mediator produced by cells under inflammatory stress is interleukin-1 (IL-1). IL-1 then stimulates production of many inflammatory molecules, the most significant being prostaglandin E2 (PGE2). High levels of PGE2 are a significant cause of chronic inflammation (Fahmi et al. 2004) and suppression of PGE2 has long been recognised way to minimise inflammation.

keraGEN-IV® contains a form of keratin that reduces the IL-1 stimulated production of PGE2, demonstrating a very significant anti-inflammatory effect.

keraGEN-IV is an anti-inflammatory, significantly suppressing the prostaglandin E2 response to pro-inflammatory interleukin-1