The angiogenic properties of the rat vibrissa hair follicle associate with the bulb.

As the hair follicle is one of the most rapidly growing tissues in the body, it must be nourished by a rich blood supply. Histological studies have indicated that the number of vessels about a growing follicle exceeds that about a resting follicle, so we postulated that the hair follicle might provide its own angiogenic stimulus during certain phases of its growth. Reported here are experiments testing the angiogenic properties of the growing (anagen) hair follicle. Using the rabbit corneal pocket angiogenesis assay and cycled anagen rat vibrissae hair follicles, we found that the mesenchymal dermal papilla had no angiogenic properties, but the anagen bulb was angiogenic. These findings suggest a mechanism for the cycling of hair follicles and an example of normal epithelium to mesenchyme interactions.