Bletilla striata polysaccharide (BSP) promotes hair growth and suppresses oxidative stress and senescence of dermal papilla cells by inhibiting prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2).

Androgenetic alopecia (AGA) is the most common hair disorder, but lacks effective treatments. This study explored the effects and mechanisms of Bletilla striata polysaccharide (BSP) on AGA and provided new directions for developing drugs for treating AGA. In the study, BSP improved the hair growth cycle and hair follicle morphology within AGA model mice, enhanced hair score, increased hair length, and elevated the number of hair follicles. BSP also reduced inflammation and oxidative stress, lowered dihydrotestosterone (DHT) content, regulated androgen receptor (AR) activity, inhibited the production of inflammatory factors and malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation, and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and glutathione (GSH) levels. In vitro, BSP restored the proliferation and migration of DHT-induced dermal papilla cells (DPCs), inhibited their inhibition, alleviated cell senescence, and enhanced the antioxidant activity of H2O2-induced DPCs. Network pharmacology analysis suggested that BSP may influence AGA progression by modulating the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway and oxidative stress through prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), and BSP inhibits PTGS2 expression. Furthermore, PTGS2 overexpression antagonized the effects of BSP. In conclusion, BSP inhibits PTGS2, thereby suppressing the activation of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and NF-κB signaling, which improves oxidative stress and cell senescence, ultimately alleviating the progression of AGA and promoting hair growth. This finding provides a potential drug intervention target and a new strategy for the treatment of AGA.