I am confused, what is the difference between Follica and Acell, both are very similar from what I gathered.
» I am confused, what is the difference between Follica and Acell, both are
» very similar from what I gathered.
Youve gathered right…
ACELL takes an extract in powder form from pig’s bladder (I know, Ripley’s Believe it or Not, right?) and applies it to a wound. Some wounds in animals have been bone deep, and when the ACELL is applied the entire skin, muscle tissue all grow back…and the hair does too.
Follica will use a method (dermabrasion, sunburning, laser, chemical peel, sound waves) to remove the top layers of the dermis, exposing the stratum cornelium down to the dermis—like after a peel you get when you have a bad sunburn, to induce a state of “re-epilithialization” in the skin. When the skin re-epilithializes (about three to five days) a epidermal-growth-factor BLOCKER will be used in conjunction with some other things (anti-androgen like finasteride, a potassium channel opener and NO agonist like minoxidil, possibly a retinoid, possibly a anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial, etc.) to coax the rebuilding epidermal cells to make hair follicles instead of skin cells. This is based on wounding experiments in animals that show the animals literally can make brand new follicles in response to dermal wounds to their skin. This has been replicated in human skin grafted onto experimental mice without immune systems. This is why they are anxious/optomistic that it will work in people. They are most likely fooling with topical formulations of the egf-receptor antagonizing drugs now due to some side effects with them (these drugs are usually used to fight cancers, etc).
Both methods seem to take advantage/spur on the bodies on rehabilitative response to injuries by attempting the body to renew instead of merely repair tissue like a salamander will regrow a leg if you cut it off.
Both have worked well in animals and regenerated brand new hair that wasn’t there before. ACELL has some impressive pics on their website of just this if you care to look…
Hope this helps.
Thanks Benji, very informative as always.