Nutritional compounds

Several ingredients contained in Revita.COR are formulated to nourish hungry hair follicles: arginine (precursor of nitric oxide), citrulline (amino acid), inositol (cyclic alcohol), lupine extract (peptides and vitamins), and tyrosine (amino acid).

ARGININE

Arginine helps to form nitric oxide to feed and regulate hair follicle activity. Revita.COR conditioner incorporates arginine because the amino acid is a metabolic precursor of nitric oxide, an important signaling molecule, vasodilator, and mediator of cutaneous cell function.

Chemical pathways for nitric oxide exist within each hair cell. Increasing the volume of intracellular nitric oxide has been shown to increase the size and section of the follicle.

In one method of action, nitric oxide increases blood flow to hungry hair follicles by relaxing vessels and causing dilation, helping hair to receive proper nutrition. Through another method of action, it functions as an important mediator in various physiological and pathophysiological processes of the cutaneous system, such as regulating blood flow, melanogenesis, wound healing, and hyperproliferative skin diseases.

Exciting research now focuses on the role of nitric oxide in the human hair follicle and in hair cycling. A Berlin study demonstrated that human papilla cells produced the substance. Researchers believe it to be a signaling molecule in those cells, and basal- and androgen-mediated nitric oxide production to be involved in regulation of hair follicle activity. Nitric oxide, a poisonous gas synthesized by the oxidation of nitrogen or ammonia, exists throughout the atmosphere and within the bodies of all mammals. To optimize nitric oxide within hair follicles — without the potential hazards of the gas itself — the precursor chemical arginine is used a safe alternative.

The semi-essential amino acid also plays an important role in cell division, wound healing, and immune function. Creatine formation requires the chemical to stimulate protein synthesis. It helps to prevent wasting in people with critical illnesses. Symptoms of arginine deficiency include hair loss, skin rash, and poor wound healing.

In Revita.COR conditioner, the addition of arginine means improved blood flow and nutrition to follicles, as well as better overall regulation of follicle activity, so they can grow hair fibers of greater diameter.

CITRULLINE

Revita.COR is fortified with citrulline, a crystalline amino acid formed in the conversion of ornithine to arginine and found in the inner root sheath and medulla of hair follicles. Citrullinemia, a disorder of amino-acid metabolism accompanied by excess citrulline in the blood and urine, is often associated with skin changes like atrophy of the epidermis, thin and short collagen bundles, and dystrophic elastic fibers, perhaps due to undernutrition of hair follicles.

With a diagnosis of reduced citrulline, researchers have noted changes such as sparse and brittle blond strands and the presence of transverse opaque bands. Amino-acid analysis has shown that relaxers used to straighten African hair often damage the strands, suggesting increased fragility, leaving them shorter than expected. A decrease in citrulline was found in all relaxed hair studied. Relaxers are associated with reduced citrulline and have been associated with inflammation.

INOSITOL

Inositol is a sweet, crystalline, stereoisomeric, cyclic alcohol. Researchers have reported that diets lacking inositol produce baldness in laboratory animals, but when the vitamin is restored, the hair grows back. Males seem to be affected most. Physicians have reported similar findings with human patients.

Inositol is known to strengthen hair by helping it to retain moisture. Inositol has the same chemical formula as glucose, the chief source of energy for living organisms. It helps cells to manufacture membranes and respond to messages from their environments. Its phospholipids perform this important role in signal transduction by relaying outside messages to cell nuclei.

A nonessential member of the vitamin-B complex that the body needs in small amounts, inositol or its phosphates and associated lipids are found naturally in bran cereals, brown rice, nuts, beans, and fruits.

 

 

LUPINE

The lupine, especially the white lupine native to the Mediterranean, is a plant rich in peptides, trace elements, and vitamins. Lupine extract has been proven in clinical trials to stimulate hair follicles and revitalize hair growth. It performs on three fronts of the hair cycle: enzymatic, metabolic, and vascular.

Enzymatically, lupine extract restores hormonal balance by inhibiting 5α-reductase, an enzyme implicated in androgenetic alopecia. Tested on normal human fibroblasts, the extract inhibits conversion of testosterone into the 5α-dihydrotestosterone that causes dwindling hair diameter, a process called miniaturization.

Metabolically, lupine extract stimulates activity within hair follicle cells, favoring keratinization and the growth of new hair strands. During anagen growth phase, cells divide continuously to manufacture hair, pushing strands beyond the surface. Lupine extract provides peptides, zinc, and iron to stimulate the metabolic activity of hair-bulb cells and boost keratinocyte differentiation. Vascularly, lupine extract improves development of follicular blood supply to construct new hair. In tests, it increases synthesis of vascular endothelial growth factor, making the vascular system of the hair follicle denser to facilitate better nutrient supply.

TYROSINE

Studies have found tyrosine to be helpful in conditions of stress, cold, fatigue, divorce, loss of a loved one, and sleep deprivation, with reductions in stress-hormone levels. In human trials, improvements in cognitive and physical performance have also been noted.

A crystalline phenolic alpha-amino acid obtained by the hydrolysis of proteins, tyrosine is a precursor to neurotransmitters, and it increases plasma transmitter levels, particularly dopamine and norepinephrine.

In the skin and its appendages, especially hair follicles, the epidermal-growth-factor-receptor network in which tyrosine plays a key role represents one of the most complex signaling systems found in biology. Its correct functioning is necessary for proper development and tissue homeostasis of skin, scalp, and hair. Its deregulation results in defective cellular proliferation and differentiation. Consequences include impaired wound healing and structural and functional defects in hair follicles.

The receptor tyrosine kinase also activates stem cells for differentiation and proliferation. In hair follicles, stem cells of the keratinocytic and melanocytic lineage are responsible for hair growth and color, respectively.