J. Cosmet. Sci., 64, 429–443 (November/December 2013) 429 Effects of Lycopersicon esculentum extract on hair growth and alopecia prevention JAE-SUK CHOI, SUNG KYU JUNG, MIN-HEE JEON, JIN-NAM MOON, WOI-SOOK MOON, YI-HWA JI, IN SOON CHOI, and SANG WOOK SON, RIS Center, IACF, Silla University, Busan 617-736, Republic of Korea (J.-S.C., I.S.C.), Department of Dermatology, Korea University Ansan Hospital, Ansan 425-701, Republic of Korea (S.K.J., Y.-H.J., S.W.S.), Department of R&D, Ecomine Co., Ltd, Busan 608-736, Republic of Korea (M.-H.J., J.-N.M., W.-S.M.), Department of Biological Science, Silla University, Busan 617-736, Republic of Korea (I.S.C.). Accepted for publication May 5, 2013. Synopsis To evaluate the potential hair growth–promoting activity and the expression of cell growth factors of Lyco- persicon esculentum extracts, each 3% (w/w) of ethyl acetate extract (EAE), and supercritical CO2 extract (SCE) of L. esculentum and isolated lycopene Tween 80 solution (LTS) and test hair tonic (THT) containing LTS were applied on the dorsal skin of C57BL/6 mice, once a day for 4 weeks. At week 4, LTS and THT exhibited hair growth–promoting potential similar to that of 3% minoxidil as a positive control (PC). Further, in the LTS group, a signifi cant increase of mRNA expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), keratinocyte growth factor, and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) was observed than PC, as well as the negative control (NC). In the THT group, increases in IGF-1 and decrease in VEGF and transforming growth factor-β expres- sion were signifi cant over the NC. In a histological examination in the THT group, the induction of anagen stage of hair follicles was faster than that of NC. In the Draize skin irritation study for THT, no observable edema or erythema was observed on all four sectors in the back skin after exposure for 24 or 72 h for any rab- bit. Therefore, this study provides reasonable evidence that L. esculentum extracts promote hair growth and suggests that applications could be found in hair loss treatments without skin irritation at moderate doses. INTRODUCTION Normal hair loss from the scalp is about 50–60 hairs a day and does not have a noticeable effect on appearance, but an excess loss (100 hairs) will result in baldness. The term alo- pecia is used to describe human hair loss, sometimes to the point of baldness. There are various forms of alopecia, the most common being androgenetic alopecia (AGA), which affects millions of men and women (1). Address all correspondence to Sang Wook Son at skin4u@korea.ac.kr and In Soon Choi at ischoi@silla.ac.kr. J.-S.C. and S.K.J. contributed equally to this work.