New Rassman comment on autocloning

Stem cell; cell based hair therapy
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http://www.baldingblog.com/2010/11/09/more-info-about-nhis-acell-study/#comment-1364371

More Info About NHI’s ACell Study

November 9 2010, 3:01 pm PT | Posted in: Hair Cloning

ACellI want to respond to some questions and comments I’ve received about our previous post about the ACell study we’re starting. The presentation at the ISHRS meeting was clear that the use of the ACell matrix with plucked hairs can stimulate growth. The process of doing this may not be a simple as it appears to be for many physicians.

First of all, the plucked hairs are usually a single hair with minimal tissue to protect it from harm when they are handled and/or exposed to the air during the transfer process. The surgeons who offer this have to be skilled to manage one-hair grafts without killing them. The application of the ACell Matrix has may nuances associated with it, so the doctors who “experiment” with this technique must build a process that works over and over again. It is also important to understand that the newly formed follicles will contain tissue from the donor area (the plucked hair) and tissue from the recipient area (the part of the follicle induced by the hair/ACell/tissue interaction). Since some of the follicle is derived the recipient area, we can’t be sure that it will cycle as a normal hair or even be totally permanent.

Over the years we have developed many processes that have led to many of today’s standards in hair transplantation, such as FUE, FUT, megasessions, and dense packing. We have consistently published our work in peer reviewed medical journals and have brought science to the world of clinical hair transplantation, advancing the standard of care over and over again. Our team (Dr. Jae Pak and myself in LA, Dr. Robert Bernstein and Dr. Eric Schweiger in NY) have put our heads together to build a process that, we believe, will afford our patients the best opportunity to benefit from the hair multiplication process and help the industry command the process better and with more certainty.

We are not of the belief that what we are doing with regard to hair multiplication is for everyone, or that everyone should rush into the process before the results of our work (and that of others) are completed. For select patients who are interested in participating in clinical trials or being treated outside the studies at this time, we would be happy to evaluate you to discuss this during a consultation. Remember, this process may not be for everyone at this time.

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In his interview with Spencer Kobren, Dr. Hitzig brought up what seems to be an intriguing point, and maybe a lot of people missed it. He mentioned the BASEMENT MEMBRANE, a part of the tissue which he says ACell contains, but no other tissue matrix product has.

I think the “basement membrane” might be the CRITICAL element that is lacking in both HM, and other attempts at hair regeneration.

The basement membrane is something which is present in normal tissues, but when cells are injected in the HM process (Gho, Intercytex, Aderans), no BM is injected or added along with it.

Think about this: Why is it that when a normal hair is plucked, something remains inside the skin which can grow a new, healthy hair?

Normally, in the act of plucking a hair, a comparatively great force is exerted by the hand on what one would normally think is a relatively delicate structure – the hair and hair follicle.

Why is it, given this comparatively tremendous force which is being exerted, that the entire follicle is not removed from the skin so that nothing remains?

I believe that the basement membrane is perhaps the one “sine qua non” for creating a viable follicle, because it acts as a foundation on to which all the other elements – the DP cells or whatever – become bound.

This is why when you pluck a normal healthy hair on the scalp, beard, etc., the very bottom part of the follicle remains embedded in the tissue, and is not destroyed or removed along with the plucked hair.

I think that in all the attempts at HM so far, they aren’t using “basement membrane” which would guarantee that all the injected cells remain together and form a lasting follicle in the scalp, i.e. one that, when the hair is plucked, something would remain.

By the way, I want to say that, having listened to Dr. Hitzig’s interview, I think he is a medical genius. Not that Gho, Aderans, etc. are fools, but I think Hitzig is far beyond them in his thinking. Example: his idea about injecting the transplanted follicle area with arterial blood which contains adult stem cells, or his idea about using PHP, growth factors, etc. at the site to enhance autocloning. He and Dr. Cooley are light-years ahead of the pack!

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Very insightful post. I really agree with everything you mentioned.

I do think the guys at Aderans are wicked smart, but Hitzig and Cooley seem like they are personally invested in solving this problem. The Aderans guys don’t seem to care about bringing this stuff to market in a timely manner.

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» In his interview with Spencer Kobren, Dr. Hitzig brought up what seems to
» be an intriguing point, and maybe a lot of people missed it. He mentioned
» the BASEMENT MEMBRANE, a part of the tissue which he says ACell contains,
» but no other tissue matrix product has.
»
» I think the “basement membrane” might be the CRITICAL element that is
» lacking in both HM, and other attempts at hair regeneration.
»
» The basement membrane is something which is present in normal tissues, but
» when cells are injected in the HM process (Gho, Intercytex, Aderans), no BM
» is injected or added along with it.
»
» Think about this: Why is it that when a normal hair is plucked, something
» remains inside the skin which can grow a new, healthy hair?
»
» Normally, in the act of plucking a hair, a comparatively great force is
» exerted by the hand on what one would normally think is a relatively
» delicate structure – the hair and hair follicle.
»
» Why is it, given this comparatively tremendous force which is being
» exerted, that the entire follicle is not removed from the skin so that
» nothing remains?
»
» I believe that the basement membrane is perhaps the one “sine qua non” for
» creating a viable follicle, because it acts as a foundation on to which all
» the other elements – the DP cells or whatever – become bound.
»
» This is why when you pluck a normal healthy hair on the scalp, beard,
» etc., the very bottom part of the follicle remains embedded in the tissue,
» and is not destroyed or removed along with the plucked hair.
»
» I think that in all the attempts at HM so far, they aren’t using “basement
» membrane” which would guarantee that all the injected cells remain together
» and form a lasting follicle in the scalp, i.e. one that, when the hair is
» plucked, something would remain.
»
» By the way, I want to say that, having listened to Dr. Hitzig’s interview,
» I think he is a medical genius. Not that Gho, Aderans, etc. are fools, but
» I think Hitzig is far beyond them in his thinking. Example: his idea
» about injecting the transplanted follicle area with arterial blood which
» contains adult stem cells, or his idea about using PHP, growth factors,
» etc. at the site to enhance autocloning. He and Dr. Cooley are light-years
» ahead of the pack!

Does anyone know if running a variation of DP-cell injection (like Aderans is doing) with a mixture of Acell would constitute a new trial?

Acell is FDA-cleared, and ostensibly for “internal” use as well as external.

Though I can’t help but think this idea would have occured to HM-researchers, and if not (and if you can’t just add it to the running experiments) we might have to wait for yet another trial to take place in order to test this.

It’s a pretty big flaw in FDA-testing; that trials can go on so long that they risk being irrelevant when they conclude, as revelations are made mid-stream.

Or maybe I’m wrong. What I kinda don’t get is why PHP is mixed with Acell. Isn’t that just like mixing two forms of generalized stem cells together? Don’t we need a generalized stem cell solution mixed together with specific hair-cells/signaling for substantial hair-growth to take place?

Then again, it could just be a case of PHP therapy being fairly easy to do, whereas multiplying hair-specific cultures is difficult to do.

Hopefully something comes from it, and hopefully FDA won’t object.