Development of an Ethnopharmacognosy-Based Traditional Herbal Hair Growth Formula from East Nusa Tenggara: A Multiparametric In Vivo Evaluation

Chemotherapy-induced alopecia is a visible and psychologically distressing adverse effect of anticancer therapy, supporting the search for safer and culturally relevant hair-growth interventions. This study evaluated an East Nusa Tenggara ethnomedicinal herbal formulation containing Aleurites moluccanus, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, Ficus benjamina, Polyscias scutellaria, and Hibiscus tiliaceus in a croton oil-induced inflammatory alopecia model. Two independent male mouse cohorts were used to assess clinical hair growth score, hair length, hair weight, and hair follicle thickness, with 5% minoxidil and vehicle-treated groups as comparators. The formulation produced higher clinical hair growth scores than 5% minoxidil from days 3 to 7, although its day-8 score was lower than that of minoxidil (2.17 ± 0.24 versus 2.83 ± 0.24), and produced the highest day-28 hair length at 6.3 ± 0.8 mm. Welch analysis of variance showed a significant difference in day-28 hair length among groups (p = 0.001), with greater values than minoxidil and untreated normal control. Hair weight increased earlier during the third week, although endpoint values were comparable with minoxidil and vehicle-containing controls. Histological analysis showed the highest hair follicle thickness in the formulation group at 47.04 ± 7.64 µm, with a significant overall treatment effect (p = 0.013) and significant differences from all comparator groups after adjustment. These findings support further development of this ethnomedicinal formulation as a plant-based topical preparation for alopecia management.