Enhance Hair Growth with ACell MatriStem™

November 20th, 2010

A new wound enhancing product has recently become available that is showing exciting potential benefits in hair restoration. ACell MatriStem™ is a biological product that has FDA approval that is being produced by a US company, ACell. MatriStem™ is an extracellular matrix (ECM), which is the part of the space between every cell in every animal species and has the ability to be transferred from animal to human without concern of rejection. ECM’s constituents contain growth factors, special proteins and glycoproteins, which cause angiogenesis (the ability to promote new blood vessels), recruit adult stem cells that are tissue site specific, cause minimal inflammatory reaction and are antibacterial in nature. What this means to hair restoration is that MatriStem has the following potential benefits:

1. To enhance the growth of follicular unit grafts, obtained via strip excision or FUE, to yield more robust, lush growth of hair

2. Produce softer, more normal, scalp-like tissue as opposed to fibrotic scars with scalp strip excision or FUE

3. May allow for growth of plucked body hairs to regenerate and grow where transplanted (auto-cloning).

While the results to date are preliminary, more ongoing testing, evaluating and studies need to be performed. I have been using ACell MatriStem™ on appropriate patients in my practice and am anxiously following the results.

If you would like more information or would like to know if this technique would be appropriate as part of your procedure, please contact me: paul@drcotterill.com