Cosmetic composition

Claim 2

A composition suitable for topical application to mammalian skin or hair which comprises: (a) a growth factor chosen from: (i) transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-a ), (ii) transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β ), (iii )insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), (iv) fragments thereof of one or more of said growth factors, and (v) mixtures thereof of said growth factors or fragments of said growth factors; and (b) a cosmetically acceptable vehicle for the growth factor or fragments thereof.

Claim 3

A composition according to claim 1, in which the total amount of growth factor is sufficient to increase hair growth in the rat, in accordance with the Rat Hair Growth Test, by at least 10% more than that obtainable using a control composition from which the said growth factor has been omitted; the Rat Hair Growth Test comprising the steps of: (i) selecting albino Wistar rats each approximately 42 days of age; (ii) clipping the hair from a patch of normal skin (4cm x 4cm) on the upper back of each rat; (iii) applying to each said clipped patch 0.3 ml of a composition containing 0.2 mg/ml of a hair growth stimulant (or a control), said application taking place twice daily and once on Saturdays and Sundays; and (iv) clipping hair from each patch twice weekly over a period of 3 months, said hair clippings being collected and weighed; the effect on hair growth of a hair growth stimulant as a test compound being assessed as a positive response when the increase in hair growth, as measured by the accumulated weight of hair clippings over the 3 month period is at least 10% greater than that resulting from topical application of a control composition under the same conditions during the same time period.

Claim 4

A composition according to claim 1, in which the total amount of growth factor is sufficient to increase the uptake of tritiated thymidine into DNA, in accordance with the mitogenisis assay, by at least 10% more than that obtainable using a control composition from which said growth factor has been omitted; the mitogenisis assay comprising the steps of: (i) selecting for the test a NIH-3T3 cell line; (ii) rendering said test cells quiescent in low serum medium (comprising 0.5% foetal calf serum) for 48 hours; and (iii) assessing the ability of the hair growth factor, compared with a control composition from which the hair growth factor has been omitted, to increase the uptake by said cells of tritiated thymidine into DNA over a 24 hour period; the potential of a test substance as a hair growth stimulant to prevent hair loss and/or reverse balding in human subjects being assessed as a positive response when an increase of at least 10% in the uptake of tritiated thymidine into DNA compared with that of the control composition is achieved.

Claim 5

A composition according to claim 1, 2 or 3, in which the growth factor forms from 0.0002 to 10mg/ml.

Claim 6

A composition according to any preceding claim, which comprises from 0.0005 to 30 µg/ml of TGF-α.

Claim 7

A composition according to claim 5, which comprises from 5 to 300 ng/ml of TGF-a.

Claim 8

A composition according to any of claims 1 to 4, which comprises from 0.0002 to 20 µg/ml of TGF-.8

Claim 9

A composition according to claim 7, which comprises from 0.2 to 200ng/ml of TGF-.8.

Claim 10

A composition according to any claims 1 to 4, which comprises from 0.0002 to 70ag/ml of IGF-1.

Claim 11

A composition according to claim 9, which comprises from 2 to 700ng/mi of IGF-1.

Claim 12

A composition according to any preceding claim, which additionally comprises a means for enhancing the activity of said growth factor following topical application to the skin.

Claim 13

A composition according to claim 11, in which the means for enhancing the activity of said growth factor is another hair growth stimulant.

Claim 14

A composition according to claim 12, in which the hair growth stimulant is chosen from: (i) a -1,4 esterified disaccharides having the structure (1); (ii) esterified oligosaccharides including at least one esterified disaccharide unit consiting of uronic acid residue having the structure (2) and a hexosamine residue having the structure (4); (iii) minoxidil and its derivatives; (iv) minoxidil glucuronide; (v) minoxidil sulphates; (vi) direct proteoglycanase inhibitors; (vii) glycosaminoglycanase inhibitors; (viii) glycosaminoglycan chain cellular uptake inhibitors; (ix) glycosidase inhibitors; (x) chemical activators of protein kinase C; and (xi) mixtures thereof.

Claim 15

A composition according to claim 13, in which the hair growth stimulant is minoxidil.

Claim 16

A composition according to claim 13, in which the glycosaminoglycanase inhibitor is an aldonolactone or an esterified aldonolactone having the structure (5).

Claim 17

A composition according to claim 13, in which the glycosaminoglycanase inhibitor is a monosaccharide or an esterified monosaccharide having the structure (6).

Claim 18

A composition according to claim 13, in which the glycosidase inhibitor is a lactam having the structure (8).

Claim 19

A composition according to claim 13, in which the chemical activator of protein kinase C is a diacylglycerol having the structure (9).

Claim 20

A composition according to claim 11, in which the means for enhancing the activity of said growth factor is a protein stabilising agent.

Claim 21

A composition according to claim 19, in which the protein stabilising agent is chosen from: glycerol ethylenediaminetetracetic acid cysteine a 2 -macroglobulin serum and mixture thereof

Claim 22

A composition according to claim 11, in which the means for enhancing the activity of said growth factor is a penetration enhancer.

Claim 23

A composition according to claim 21, in which the penetration enhancer is chosen from: 1-dodecylazacycloheptan-2-one dibutyl sebacate 2-hydroxyoctanoic acid esters of pyroglutamic acid having the structure (10) and mixture thereof

Claim 24

A composition according to claim 21, in which the penetration enhancer is chosen from surface active agents.

Claim 25

A composition according to claim 11, in which the means for enhancing the activity of said growth factor is a cationic polymer.

Claim 26

A composition according to claim 11, in which the means for enhancing the activity of said growth factor is an iontophoretic device.

Claim 29

The use of a composition according to any of claims 1 to 25 in the treatment of baldness.

Claim 30

The use of a growth factor as defined in claim 1, in the preparation of a therapeutic composition for treating baldness.