Abstract

HAIR INHIBITORY EFFECT ON INTEGUMENTARY ORGAN BY COMPOUND ISOLATED FROM CURCUMA LONGA (TURMERIC)

Iqra Tahir, Nudrat Fatima*, Hira Farid and Shazia Syed

ABSTRACT

Background: Unwanted hair is a common problem in human beings. Various procedures have been employed to remove unwanted hair, including shaving, electrolysis, depilatory creams or lotions, waxing, plucking, and therapeutic anti-androgens. These conventional procedures generally have side effects e.g. increase in the rate of hair regrowth, poor removal of short hair, have high irritancy potential, can be expensive, painful, and sometimes leaves scarring etc. Turmeric is a miraculous herb which has been used in the vast variety of dermal preparations to make the skin clean, healthy, shiny and beautiful. Further it has antibacterial, antifungal, analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects. Turmeric preparations are therefore tested to inhibit the growth of unwanted hair and to overcome the above mentioned side effect. Objective: Preparation and testing of an unorthodox natural hair inhibitory Formulation, havingcurcumin as an active ingredient, with least side effects on integumentary organs. Methodology: Natural bioactive compound, curcumin, was isolated from fresh rhizomes of Curcuma longa according to the reported method. The curcumin was used to formulate an ointment and an alcoholic extract. Comparative studies of the two formulationswere conducted on Swiss albino mice. Ten healthy adult mice of either sex weighing between 30-35g were selected for the study. The mice were shaved over an area of 1.5cm2 on both sides and were treated with test compounds in comparison with control. The observations were recorded during 10 day study period. Result: Significant hair growth inhibitory effects were found in both formulations as compared to the control. Conclusion: Curcumin has inhibitory effect on hair growth along with other positive effects on skin rather than side effects.

Keywords: Curcumin, Hair Inhibitory, Integumentary Organ.