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What the 24-Week Pumpkin Seed Oil Hair-Count Trial Measured

Pumpkin seed oil is pressed from Cucurbita pepo seed. Folli-Activ includes it in an oral 10-in-1 formula. The human hair study that carries the pumpkin seed oil name tested a commercial capsule called Octa Sabal Plus, supplied by Dreamplus. That capsule is not Folli-Activ. The numbers below are the numbers from that trial and from a separate rat prostate study.

The trial design

Cho, Lee, Jeong, Choi, and colleagues randomized men with mild to moderate androgenetic alopecia at Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital. Eligible patterns were Norwood-Hamilton II, III, III vertex, IV, and V. Ages ran from 20 to 65. Ninety adults were screened, four met exclusion criteria, ten declined, and 76 enrolled: 37 in the intervention group and 39 on placebo. The intervention was 400 milligrams a day of the product the authors identify as pumpkin seed oil, given as Octa Sabal Plus. Each capsule was 100 milligrams. Men took two capsules 30 minutes before breakfast and two before dinner, for 24 weeks. Placebo capsules matched in appearance. Compliance by pill count was above 95 percent in both groups. Five men in the intervention group and seven in the placebo group dropped out. The analysis used intention to treat with last observation carried forward.

Men were excluded if they had used finasteride, another 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor, minoxidil, steroids, or hormonal products in the prior three months. Liver enzymes and creatinine were screening safety labs. The authors describe androgenetic alopecia in the introduction in plain terms: follicles miniaturize, anagen shortens, telogen lengthens, and DHT is a major player. Their own results section then measures hair, not DHT.

Hair counts, photographs, and what did not change

Phototrichography was the hair-count method. At 24 weeks the mean hair-count increase was 40 percent in the Octa Sabal Plus group and 10 percent in the placebo group, P less than 0.001. At 12 weeks the mean increases were 30 percent and 5 percent. The absolute change in hairs per field, using a 60-times lens, was 6.2 plus or minus 6.5 versus 1.8 plus or minus 6.2, P = 0.004.

Hair thickness did not change. With a 150-times lens the thickness values were 0.34 plus or minus 0.03 versus 0.34 plus or minus 0.02, P = 0.991. A shopper who reads only the 40 percent figure and expects a thicker shaft is reading past the table. The positive count result and the flat thickness result are both in the paper.

Blinded investigator scores of standardized photographs favored the intervention at 12 and 24 weeks, P less than 0.001. At 24 weeks, 1 of 37 treated men (2.7 percent) was rated worse, 19 of 37 (51.4 percent) were unchanged, and 17 of 37 (44.1 percent) were slightly or moderately improved. In the placebo group, 11 of 39 (28.2 percent) were worse, 25 of 39 (64.1 percent) were unchanged, and 3 of 39 (7.7 percent) were slightly or moderately improved. The distribution differed between groups, P = 0.002.

Self-rated improvement and satisfaction on a 0-to-10 visual analogue scale did not differ between groups at 12 weeks. At 24 weeks, improvement scores were 3.4 plus or minus 2.7 versus 2.1 plus or minus 2.0, P = 0.013, and satisfaction scores were 3.5 plus or minus 2.9 versus 2.3 plus or minus 2.0, P = 0.003.

Serum free testosterone did not change in either group. The authors did not measure DHT or PSA. The hair-count result stands on counts, photographs, and self scores. A DHT-enzyme explanation of that result is not what this trial measured.

One man in each group reported whole-body itching. One man in the intervention group reported mild abdominal discomfort. Adverse effects were not different between the groups. That sentence is about this trial. It is not a general promise about every pumpkin seed oil product.

The rat prostate experiment is a different endpoint

Gossell-Williams, Davis, and O'Connor gave male Sprague-Dawley rats testosterone at 0.3 milligrams per 100 grams of body weight under the skin for 20 days, which enlarged the prostate relative to body weight. Oral pumpkin seed oil at 2.0 and 4.0 milligrams per 100 grams of body weight was given over the same 20 days. The higher dose inhibited that testosterone-driven increase with P less than 0.02. Body-weight gain was unaffected. This is a prostate-weight study in rats. It is not a hair-count study, and it did not report a direct 5-alpha-reductase enzyme assay.

The honest summary is two datasets. Rats on oral pumpkin seed oil had less testosterone-driven prostate enlargement. Men on Octa Sabal Plus at 400 milligrams a day for 24 weeks had a larger hair-count gain than men on placebo, with no gain in hair thickness and no change in free testosterone.

Packs

Pumpkin seed oil is in every Folli-Activ bottle: 90 capsules, brand MY NPM FOLLI-ACTIV. On this site, 1 bottle is RM169, 3 bottles are RM447, and 6 bottles are RM699 with free shipping. Checkout is by card. The 24-week hair-count record is the reason this oil is discussed for patterned thinning. The product in that record was Octa Sabal Plus at 400 milligrams a day. Folli-Activ is a separate 10-in-1 oral formula that includes pumpkin seed oil among its ten ingredients.

Sources