3 rd Bandung International Teleconference on Pharmacy, Indonesia | 19 ANTI-ALOPECIA ACTIVITY OF MORINGA (MORINGA OLEIFERA LAMK.) SEED OIL AGAINST DIHYDROTESTOSTERONE-INDUCED RABBITS Original Article YULIUS BAKI KORASSA 1,2 , NYI MEKAR SAPTARINI 1* , RESMI MUSTARICHIE 1 , RINI HENDRIANI 3 , ANTONIUS R. B. OLA 4,5 , YOAN NOVICADLITHA 6 , LELY A V KAPITAN 2 1 Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis and Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung-45363, Indonesia. 2 Pharmacy Study Program, Health Polytechnic of Ministry of Health in Kupang-405020, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. 3 Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran-45363, Bandung, Indonesia. 4 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Nusa Cendana University-85001, Kupang, Indonesia. 5 Integrated Research Center (Bioscience) Laboratory, Nusa Cendana University-85001, Kupang, Indonesia. 6 Medical Laboratory Technologists Study Program, Health Polytechnic of Ministry of Health in Kupang-405020, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia * Corresponding author: Nyi Mekar Saptarini; * Email: nyi.mekar@unpad.ac.id Received: 19 Aug 2023, Revised and Accepted: 03 Oct 2023 ABSTRACT Objective: Alopecia is a condition where there is hair loss or no growth of hair, which can occur as a result of stress, heredity, hormonal factors or due to certain diseases such as diabetes mellitus. This study aimed to determine the anti-alopecia activity of moringa seed oil against rabbits induced by dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Methods: The methods used was the alopecia rabbit model according to Matias with moringa seed oil concentrations of 7.5, 10 and 12.5%, positive control (0.1% finasteride) and negative control (1% tween 80) with parameters hair length and hair weight test. Results: Results showed that moringa seed oil concentrations of 7.5, 10 and 12.5% had anti-alopecia activity with average hair length of 3.4±0.17, 3.9±0.20 and 4.5±0.28 cm, respectively and average hair weight of 118±23.148±30.9 and 175±47.2 mg respectively. Conclusion: Moringa seed oil concentration of 12.5% had optimal activity for developing as anti-alopecia based on the statistical analysis value of hair length (125x10 -3 >0.05) was not significantly different while hair weight (3x10 -3 <0.05) was significantly different from the positive control of 0.1% finasteride. Keywords: Moringa oleifera Lamk, Antialopecia, Finasteride, Growth hair © 2023 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ijap.2023.v15s2.04 Journal homepage: https://innovareacademics.in/journals/index.php/ijap INTRODUCTION Alopecia is a condition where there is loss of hair or no growth of head hair, which can occur as a result of severe stress, hereditary, hormonal factors or due to certain diseases such as diabetes mellitus [1, 2]. Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common type of alopecia and is a type of hair loss that affects at least half of all men at the age of 50 y, and also nearly 70% of all men at the age of 70 y [3, 4]. Androgenic alopecia is caused by the presence of enzyme 5 α- reductase [5]. This enzyme interacts with testosterone to form 5 α- dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which then binds to a specific receptor, namely androgen receptor in the hair follicle, thereby reducing blood flow to the hair follicle, which in turn causes inhibition of hair growth, hair damage and wasting of hair follicles [6]. Alopecia therapies such as minoxidil and finasteride can have adverse side effects, especially with long-term use [7-9]. The use of finasteride can cause sexual disorders such as impotence, while minoxidil causes irritant or allergic contact dermatitis [10]. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the use of plants to be used as a safer substitute for synthetic drugs with a 5α-reductase inhibitor mechanism to stimulate hair growth and prevent alopecia [11, 12]. Moringa (Moringa oleifera Lamk.) seed oil is a class of edible oil that has activity as an antioxidant, antiaging, emollient, hair care and skin lightening [13]. Moringa seed oil contains phytosterol compounds, namely β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and compasterol, which can block the formation of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which causes alopecia by inhibiting the enzyme 5 α-reductase found in hair follicles [14-16]. The content of phytosterol compounds at concentrations of 0.01% to 0.5% in plants has been shown to have anti-alopecia activity [17]. Research related to moringa seed oil as anti-alopecia is still rarely done, so it is necessary to carry out studies through ongoing research to support data that can confirm information regarding the development of moringa seed oil as anti-alopecia. The novelty of this research was the anti-alopecia activity test of Moringa seed oil from East Nusa Tenggara using cold pressing in rabbits induced by dihydrotestosterone. Moringa seed oil from East Nusa Tenggara is abundant in nature, namely 35-40%, with phytosterol components which have potential as anti-alopecia based on in silico test, so it was necessary to carried out in vivo tests to determine the activity and effectiveness of the right dose of Moringa seed oil as anti-alopecia. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials Dihydrotestosterone hormone (merck), moringa seeds (East Baumata Village, Kupang Regency), absolute ethanol (braun), ethanol (medika), Lieberman burchard, distilled water (berno farma), concentrated sulfuric acid (merck), chloroform (merck), methanol (merck), tween 80 (merck), finasteride (combiphar), anhydrous acetic acid (merck), n-hexane (merck), ethyl acetate (merck), kiesel gel GF 254, New Zealand male white rabbit. Moringa seed oil test material preparation Moringa seeds were weighed as much as 1.5 kg, peeled from the skin and the seeds were taken and then weighed. Moringa seeds were put in oil press (cold press). The oil obtained was then filtered from the dregs using a flannel cloth and stored in a closed container and then the yield value was calculated using the formula [18, 19]. Yield = Weight of obtained oil Weight of moringa seed x 100% Phytochemistry test Lieberman burchard reaction Take 1 ml of moringa seed oil, put it in a test tube, then dissolve it in 0.5 ml of chloroform and add 0.5 ml of anhydrous acetic acid. The International Journal of Applied Pharmaceutics ISSN- 0975-7058 Vol 15, Special Issue 2, 2023