JP7313854B2 - Composition for improving the appearance of hair - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to compositions for improving the appearance of hair.

Aging is known to cause functional decline in many body tissues. The hair and scalp are no exception. Hair grows gradually from birth to puberty, and in a healthy state, there are about 100,000 hairs. After that, although there are differences between men and women and between individuals, there are aging changes such as thinning hair, decreased hair volume, decreased hair gloss, or increased gray hair. Dwarfing of hair follicles in the scalp and reduction of hair follicle stem cells are known to be causes of hair changes with aging (Patent Document 1).

It has been pointed out that there are middle-aged and elderly people who lose self-confidence and energy due to deterioration of appearance such as thinning hair, hair loss, gray hair, etc., in addition to deterioration of scalp and hair function due to aging, and decrease opportunities for interpersonal interaction. Among middle-aged and elderly people, especially the elderly, the vicious cycle of physical, mental and social life is a factor that causes the need for nursing care.

JP 2009-161509 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention aims to provide novel materials and compositions containing them that are capable of improving the appearance of hair.

The inventors of the present invention have recently found that, compared to young mice, aged mice suffer from deterioration in hair volume and hair quality such as hair gloss and hair color, and that deterioration in hair quantity and hair quality is ameliorated in aged mice ingested with WY peptide. The present invention is based on these findings.

According to the present invention, the following inventions are provided.
[1] A hair appearance-improving composition and a hair appearance-improving agent comprising a peptide having the amino acid sequence of WY or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof as an active ingredient.
[2] The composition and agent according to [1] above, which are used for suppressing and/or improving appearance deterioration of hair.
[3] The composition and preparation according to [1] or [2] above, wherein the appearance deterioration of hair is caused by aging.
[4] The composition and preparation according to any one of [1] to [3] above, wherein the appearance deterioration of hair is related to hair volume and/or hair quality.
[5] The composition and preparation according to [4] above, wherein the appearance deterioration related to hair volume is at least one selected from the group consisting of hair loss, thinning hair, and reduction in hair thickness.
[6] The composition and preparation according to [4] above, wherein the deterioration of appearance related to hair quality is at least one selected from the group consisting of bleaching of hair color, lightening of hair color, reduction of hair gloss and reduction of hair hardness.
[7] The composition and preparation according to any one of [1] to [6] above, which are intended to be ingested by middle-aged and elderly people.
[8] The composition and agent according to any one of [1] to [7] above, which is in the form of food.
[9] A composition for treatment, prevention or improvement of hair loss, thinning, bleaching and/or thinning of hair, and a therapeutic, preventive or improving agent for hair loss, thinning, bleaching and/or thinning of hair, comprising a peptide having the amino acid sequence of WY or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof as an active ingredient.
[10] A composition for promoting hair growth and/or suppressing hair loss, a hair growth promoting agent or a hair loss suppressing agent, comprising a peptide having the amino acid sequence of WY or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof as an active ingredient.

The compositions of [1], [9] and [10] are sometimes referred to herein as the "composition of the present invention", and the preparations of [1], [9] and [10] are herein referred to as the "preparation of the present invention".

The dipeptide WY, which is the active ingredient of the composition and preparation of the present invention, is advantageous in that it can be used as a functional material that exhibits the function of improving the appearance of hair (especially hair volume and hair quality) and is safe for mammals including humans.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the effect of WY peptide ingestion on hair volume and hair quality (hair luster and hair color) in aged mice. Expressed as mean ± standard error. * indicates p<0.05.

Specific description of the invention

The composition and preparation of the present invention contain a peptide having a WY amino acid sequence (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "the peptide of the present invention") as an active ingredient. Here, "a peptide having an amino acid sequence" means a peptide whose sequence is specified by the amino acid sequence.

The peptide of the present invention may be obtained by chemical synthesis, or may be obtained by chemically or enzymatically decomposing proteins or polypeptide raw materials derived from milk, soybean, wheat, eggs, livestock meat, fish meat, seafood, or the like. Specifically, for example, the sequence of the peptide of the present invention is contained in at least whey and casein of milk, bovine serum albumin (BSA), glycinin of soybean, glutenin of wheat, riboviterin of egg yolk, ovalbumin of egg white, ovotransferrin, lysotium, collagen of chicken protein, etc. Therefore, these foods or food materials can be subjected to acid hydrolysis, enzymatic treatment with protease, microbial fermentation, or the like to produce the above peptide. As the composition and preparation of the present invention, the food or preparation of the food material may be used as it is, or may be used as a concentrate, or as a dry powder obtained by spray-drying, freeze-drying, or the like. In addition, if necessary, any degree of purification such as removal of impurities, salts, enzymes, etc. may be performed before use.

The amino acids constituting the peptide of the present invention may be composed of only L-amino acids, may be composed only of D-amino acids, or may be peptides in which both are mixed. In addition, it may be composed only of naturally occurring amino acids, may be composed only of modified amino acids in which an arbitrary functional group is attached to an amino acid such as phosphorylation or glycosylation, or may be a peptide in which both are mixed. Moreover, when a peptide contains two or more asymmetric carbon atoms, it may be either an enantiomer, a diastereomer, or a mixture of both.

Furthermore, the peptide of the present invention may be in the form of a free salt or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, and the compositions and preparations of the present invention contain any of these, or a mixture of all or part thereof. Pharmaceutically acceptable salts include acid addition salts, metal salts, ammonium salts and organic amine addition salts. Pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts include inorganic acid salts such as hydrochlorides, sulfates and phosphates, and organic acid salts such as acetates, maleates, fumarates, citrates and methanesulfonates. Examples of pharmaceutically acceptable metal salts include alkali metal salts such as sodium salts and potassium salts, alkaline earth metal salts such as magnesium salts and calcium salts, aluminum salts, zinc salts and the like. Pharmaceutically acceptable ammonium salts include salts such as ammonium and tetramethylammonium. Further, pharmaceutically acceptable organic amine addition salts include addition salts of morpholine, piperidine and the like.

The composition and preparation of the present invention can be provided as the peptide of the present invention alone or as a material (eg, food material) containing the peptide of the present invention. The composition and preparation of the present invention can also be provided by mixing the peptide of the present invention or a material containing the peptide of the present invention with other ingredients (e.g., food raw materials, food additives, formulation additives). The content of the peptide of the present invention in the composition and preparation of the present invention can be arbitrarily determined according to its purpose, application, form, dosage form, symptoms, body weight, etc., and the present invention is not limited thereto. In the present invention, the agent of the present invention can comprise the peptide of the present invention, and the composition of the present invention can comprise the peptide of the present invention and other ingredients.

The measurement of the peptide content of the present invention can be performed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). A person skilled in the art can easily set the conditions, and it is needless to say that a standard peptide of purity for LC/MS/MS measurement is used as a standard peptide for measurement. For example, AQUA peptide manufactured by SIGMA ALDRICH can be used.

Food materials containing the peptide of the present invention include enzymatic hydrolysates of proteins, preferably enzymatic hydrolysates of whey proteins (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "whey hydrolysates"). A method for producing a whey decomposition product containing the peptide of the present invention is known, and can be produced, for example, according to the description of International Publication No. 2017/086303. Alternatively, a commercially available whey enzymatic hydrolyzate containing the peptide of the present invention may be used. For example, LE80GF-US (manufactured by DMV) or HW-3 (manufactured by Megmilk Snow Brand) may be used as the peptide of the present invention.

When the peptide of the present invention is contained in the composition and preparation of the present invention as a whey protein hydrolyzate, the peptide of the present invention can be contained in a ratio of 0.001 to 10% by mass (in terms of solid content) relative to the whey protein hydrolyzate, and more preferably in a ratio of 0.01 to 5% by mass (in terms of solid content). Further, the whey protein hydrolyzate can be contained in the composition and preparation of the present invention in a proportion of 0.001 to 95% by mass (in terms of solid content), preferably 0.01 to 50% by mass (in terms of solid content).

As shown in the Examples below, the peptide of the present invention has an effect of improving the appearance of body hair in aged model animals. Improvement of body hair appearance (hair quantity and hair quality) in rodents serves as a model for improvement of head hair appearance (hair quantity and hair quality) in humans (see Drug Delivery System 24-2, 2009, 109-116 and Cosmetology Research Report Vol.21, 2013, 19-23). Therefore, the peptide of the present invention can be used as an active ingredient of a composition for improving appearance of hair and an agent for improving appearance of hair. In the present invention, "hair" and "head hair" are synonymous.

In the present invention, "improving the appearance of hair" includes not only improving (improving) the appearance of hair, but also suppressing the deterioration of the appearance of hair and restoring the deterioration of the appearance of hair. That is, the term "improving the appearance of hair" is used in the sense of including "suppression and improvement of deterioration in the appearance of hair."

In the present invention, "hair appearance deterioration" is preferably due to aging (especially aging). In general, middle-aged and elderly people often have progressive deterioration of the appearance of their hair, and in particular, the degree of progression of the deterioration of the appearance of their hair is often remarkable in the elderly. Therefore, the composition and preparation of the present invention can be intended for intake by middle-aged and elderly persons (e.g., persons aged 50 and over, persons aged 56 and over), and particularly elderly persons (e.g., persons aged 65 and over). That is, the composition and preparation of the present invention can be ingested by middle-aged and elderly people and elderly people.

In the present invention, "appearance of hair" preferably relates to either or both of hair volume and hair quality. Deterioration of hair appearance related to hair volume includes hair loss (hairless state), thinning hair, and reduction in hair thickness, and particularly hair loss and thinning hair. Deterioration of appearance related to hair quality includes bleaching of hair color, lightening of hair color, reduction of hair gloss, and reduction of hardness of hair, particularly bleaching of hair color, lightening of hair color, and reduction of gloss.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there are provided a composition for treatment, prevention or improvement of hair loss, thinning, bleaching and/or thinning of hair, and a therapeutic agent, preventive agent or remedy for hair loss, thinning, bleaching and/or thinning of hair comprising the peptide of the present invention. Hair loss, thinning, bleaching and lightening of hair can be attributed to aging (particularly aging).

According to another aspect of the present invention, there are also provided a composition for promoting hair growth and/or suppressing hair loss, a hair growth promoting agent and a hair loss suppressing agent comprising the peptide of the present invention. In the present invention, promotion of hair growth and suppression of hair loss are used in the sense of including "hair growth".

The compositions and agents of the present invention can be provided in the form of pharmaceuticals (e.g., pharmaceutical compositions), quasi-drugs, foods (e.g., food compositions), feeds (including pet foods), etc., and can be carried out according to the description below.

The peptides of the invention can be administered orally to humans and non-human animals. Oral preparations include granules, powders, tablets (including sugar-coated tablets), pills, capsules, syrups, emulsions and suspensions. These formulations can be formulated using a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier by a method commonly practiced in the art. Pharmaceutically acceptable carriers include excipients, binders, diluents, additives, flavors, buffers, thickeners, colorants, stabilizers, emulsifiers, dispersants, suspending agents, preservatives and the like.

The peptide of the present invention can be orally ingested by humans and non-human animals, and a typical ingestion form is food. When the peptide of the present invention is provided as food, it can be provided as it is as food, or it can be provided by incorporating it into food. For example, when the peptide of the present invention is provided as a food, a protein enzymatic hydrolyzate such as a whey hydrolyzate containing the peptide of the present invention can be provided as it is as a food, or it can be provided after being contained in a food. The food thus provided contains an effective amount of the peptide of the present invention. As used herein, the phrase "contains an effective amount" of the peptide of the present invention refers to a content that allows the peptide of the present invention to be ingested within the range described below when the amount normally consumed in an individual food is ingested. In addition, the term "food" is used to include health foods, functional foods, nutritional supplements, foods with health claims (e.g., foods for specified health uses, foods with nutrient function claims, foods with functional claims), foods for special dietary uses (e.g., infant foods, foods for pregnant women, foods for the sick), and supplements. When the peptide of the present invention is to be ingested by animals other than humans, it goes without saying that the food of the present invention is used as feed.

Since the peptide of the present invention has the effect of improving deterioration of appearance as described above, it can be contained in foods to be ingested on a daily basis, or can be provided as a supplement. That is, the composition and preparation of the present invention can be provided in the form of food. In this case, the composition and preparation of the present invention can be provided in a unit packaging form in which the amount to be ingested per meal is predetermined. The unit packaging form for one meal includes, for example, a form in which a fixed amount is defined by a pack, package, can, bottle, or the like. In order to better exhibit the various effects of the composition and preparation of the present invention, the intake amount per serving of the peptide of the present invention can be determined according to the intake amount per serving of the peptide of the present invention, which will be described later. The food of the present invention may be provided with a package containing instructions on the intake amount, or may be provided with a document or the like describing the instructions.

The predetermined intake per meal in the unit packaging form may be the effective intake per day, or the intake divided into two or more (preferably two or three) times the effective intake per day. Therefore, the unit packaging form of the composition and preparation of the present invention can contain the peptide of the present invention at the daily intake for humans described below, or the peptide of the present invention can be contained in an amount that is 1/2 to 1/6 of the daily intake for humans described below. For convenience of ingestion, the composition and dosage form of the present invention are preferably provided in a "per-meal unit packaging form" in which the amount per meal is the effective daily intake.

The form of the "food" is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a beverage form, a semi-liquid form, a gel form, a solid form, or a powder form. Examples of "supplements" include tablets produced by adding excipients, binders, etc. to the peptide of the present invention, kneading the mixture, and then tableting, and capsules enclosed in capsules.

The food provided by the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it contains the peptide of the present invention. Examples include soft drinks, carbonated drinks, beverages containing fruit juice, beverages containing vegetable juice, beverages containing fruit juice and vegetable juice, livestock milk such as cow's milk, soy milk, milk beverages, drink-type yogurt, drink-type or stick-type jelly, coffee, cocoa, tea beverages, energy drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks, mineral water, near water, non-alcoholic beverages such as non-alcoholic beer-taste beverages; Carbohydrate-containing foods and drinks such as bread and pasta; cheeses, hard or soft yogurt, livestock milk and other oil-based fresh cream, ice cream and other dairy products; Western confectionery such as cookies, cakes and chocolates; Alcoholic beverages such as Japanese sake, Chinese sake, shochu, beer, non-alcoholic beer with an alcohol content of 1% or less, low-malt beer, other miscellaneous alcoholic beverages, and alcoholic beverages such as chuhai; processed products using eggs, seafood and meat (including offal such as liver) processed products (including delicacies), processed foods such as soups such as miso soup, seasonings such as miso, soy sauce, furikake, and other seasonings, and liquid foods such as rich liquid foods. Mineral water includes both sparkling mineral water and non-foaming mineral water. In addition, the food provided by the present invention includes both food manufacturing raw materials and food additives.

Tea beverages include fermented tea, semi-fermented tea, and unfermented tea, and include, for example, black tea, green tea, barley tea, brown rice tea, sencha, gyokuro tea, roasted tea, oolong tea, turmeric tea, pu-erh tea, rooibos tea, rose tea, chrysanthemum tea, ginkgo biloba tea, herbal tea (e.g., mint tea, jasmine tea).

Examples of fruits used in fruit juice-containing beverages and fruit and vegetable juice-containing beverages include apples, mandarin oranges, grapes, bananas, pears, peaches, mangoes, acai, blueberries and plums. Examples of vegetables used in vegetable juice-containing beverages and fruit and vegetable juice-containing beverages include tomatoes, carrots, celery, pumpkins, cucumbers, and watermelons.

The intake amount of the peptide of the present invention can be determined depending on the recipient's sex, age and weight, symptoms, intake time, dosage form, intake route, drugs to be combined, and the like. The daily intake of the peptide of the present invention for the purpose of improving the appearance of hair (including hair loss, thinning, bleaching, and improving lightening), promoting hair growth and suppressing hair loss (in terms of dry mass) is, for example, 0.001 to 1000 mg (preferably 0.01 to 100 mg). The above intake amount of the peptide of the present invention and the following intake timing and intake period are applicable when the peptide of the present invention is used for both non-therapeutic and therapeutic purposes, and in the case of therapeutic purposes, intake can be read as administration. The peptide of the present invention can also be ingested by mammals other than humans (preferably animals covered with hair, such as mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, cats, cows, horses, pigs, monkeys, etc.), and the intake amount, intake timing and intake period can be determined with reference to the description on humans.

The period of ingestion of the peptide of the present invention can be at least 3 days (preferably 5 days, 10 days, or 13 days) at the above daily dose. The ingestion interval of the peptide of the present invention can be once every three days, once every two days, or once a day for the above daily dose.

The composition, preparation, and food of the present invention may be labeled as having an effect of improving the appearance of hair. In this case, in order to make the labeling easy for consumers to understand, the composition, preparation and food of the present invention may be labeled partially or wholly as follows. In the present invention, it goes without saying that the term "improving the appearance of hair" includes the following indications.
・For those who are concerned about aging hair ・For anti-aging hair ・For those who are concerned about hair loss, hair loss, thinning hair, and gray hair

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for improving the appearance of hair, comprising ingesting or administering to a subject in need thereof an effective amount of the peptide of the present invention or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, or a composition comprising the same. According to the present invention, there is also provided a method for treating, preventing, or improving hair loss, thinning hair, or bleaching, comprising ingesting or administering to a subject in need thereof an effective amount of the peptide of the present invention, a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, or a composition comprising the same. The present invention also provides a method for promoting hair growth and a method for inhibiting hair loss, comprising ingesting or administering an effective amount of the peptide of the present invention, a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, or a composition containing the same to a subject in need thereof. The methods of the invention can be practiced according to the descriptions for the compositions and dosage forms of the invention.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided use of a peptide of the present invention or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof for the manufacture of a hair appearance improving agent, as a hair appearance improving agent, or in a hair appearance improving method of the present invention. The present invention also provides use of the peptide of the present invention or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof for the production of a therapeutic agent, preventive agent or ameliorating agent for hair loss, thinning hair or bleaching, as a therapeutic agent, preventive agent or ameliorating agent for hair loss, thinning hair or bleaching, or in the method for treatment, prevention or amelioration of hair loss, thinning hair or bleaching according to the present invention. The present invention also provides the use of the peptide of the present invention or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof for the production of a hair growth-promoting agent or hair loss-suppressing agent, as a hair growth-promoting agent or hair loss-suppressing agent, or in the hair growth-promoting method or hair loss-suppressing method of the present invention. Uses of the present invention can be carried out according to the description regarding the compositions and dosage forms of the present invention.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a peptide having an amino acid sequence of WY or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof for use in improving the appearance of hair. The present invention also provides a peptide having the amino acid sequence of WY or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof for use in treating, preventing or improving hair loss, thinning or bleaching. The present invention also provides a peptide having an amino acid sequence of WY or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof for use in promoting hair growth or inhibiting hair loss. Peptides having the amino acid sequence of WY and pharmaceutically acceptable salts and solvates thereof can be prepared according to the description of the compositions and agents of the present invention.

The methods and uses of the invention may be for use in mammals, including humans, and are intended for both therapeutic and non-therapeutic uses. As used herein, the term "non-therapeutic" means not including the act of surgery, treatment or diagnosis of humans (i.e., medical treatment of humans), and specifically means that a doctor or a person under the direction of a doctor does not include a method of performing surgery, treatment or diagnosis on humans.

The present invention will be described more specifically based on the following examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

Example 1: Improving Effect of WY Peptide on Deterioration of Appearance Due to Aging (1) Outline of Test For aged mice, the appearance of a test food-ingesting group and a non-ingesting group was compared and examined. In addition, a comparative study was conducted with a group of young mice that did not ingest the test food. WY peptide was used as a test food.

(2) Mouse A C57BL/6J male mouse (Charles River Laboratories Japan, Inc., sometimes simply referred to as "this mouse" in this specification) was used. According to the materials of Charles River Japan (https://www.crj.co.jp/cms/cmsrs/img/usr/top/B6-Aged.pdf), this mouse was developed by The Jackson Laboratory and is widely used in aging research. As a result of observing 32 of these mice, some died at 100 weeks of age, and all died by 170 weeks of age (Mouse Phenome Database (https://www.phenome.pdf). jax.org/)). Lifetime correspondence between this mouse and humans is that a human aged 20 to 30 corresponds to a mouse aged 3 to 6 months (mature individual), a human aged 38 to 47 corresponds to a mouse aged 10 to 14 months (middle-aged individual), and a human aged 56 to 69 corresponds to a mouse aged 18 to 24 months (old individual). In addition, it is said that with age, the coat may become thinner, gray or brown, and partial hair loss may be seen. In this test, a 78-week-old individual of this mouse was used as an old mouse, and a 6-month-old individual of this mouse was used as a young mouse after one month of acclimation breeding. The aged mice were divided into an "aged WY intake group" (9 mice) ingesting the test food (WY peptide) and an "aged non-ingestion group" (8 mice) in which the test food was not ingested so that there was no bias in body weight. In addition, the young mice were designated as a "young non-ingestion group" (5 mice) in which the test food was not ingested, and were bred under the same conditions as the old non-ingesting group. Each individual was weighed at assignment and at assessment.

(3) Administration of Test Food (WY Peptide) To the aged WY intake group, the WY peptide was forcibly administered into the stomach using a sonde so as to be 10 mg/kg. The WY peptide was dissolved in distilled water and used so that the ingestion amount was 10 mL/kg (mouse body weight). For the aged non-ingestion group, 10 mL/kg (mouse body weight) of distilled water containing no WY peptide was forcibly administered into the stomach using a sonde. The ingestion period was 13 days.

(4) Evaluation After the ingestion period, each individual mouse was observed from the back and evaluated. Evaluation items were three items: amount of hair (appearance of voluminous feeling) and hair quality as hair luster and hair color. Since almost no variation in hair volume and hair quality was observed in each individual in the young non-intake group, each individual in the old WY intake group and the old non-intake group was evaluated in five stages based on the evaluation criteria shown in Table 1, based on the hair volume and hair quality of the young non-intake group. According to the observation in this test, it was confirmed that the hair color of this mouse decolorized (whitening) in the order of black, brown, light brown, and white with aging, so the evaluation of the hair color was not compared with the young non-ingestion group, but was an absolute evaluation evaluated by the ratio of white hair (white hair) to the whole hair in each individual. In addition, the observation in this test also confirmed that hair loss progressed in this mouse and the amount of hair (appearance of volume) decreased. In addition, evaluation was performed by discussion of two researchers.

(5) Statistical Processing Measured values for each group were expressed as mean±standard deviation. The test was performed by the t-test, and when the risk rate was P<0.05%, it was considered that there was a significant difference between the two groups compared.

(6) Results The results were as shown in Figure 1, Table 2 and Table 3.

From the results shown in Fig. 1, Tables 2 and 3, the score of hair volume and hair quality (hair luster, hair color) of the old non-feeding group was significantly lower than that of the young non-feeding group. On the other hand, in the old WY intake group, compared with the old non-intake group, the scores for hair volume and hair quality (hair luster, hair color) were significantly increased, and it was confirmed that they were comparable to the young non-intake group. The improvement in hair quality in the aged WY intake group was considered to be due to the improvement in the hair quality (gloss, hair color) of newly grown hair due to turnover (hair loss and hair growth). From this, it was further considered that the improvement in the amount of hair (hair loss) in the aged WY intake group may be due to the increase in newly grown hair due to turnover. These results indicated that intake of WY peptide improved deterioration of hair volume and hair quality (hair luster, hair color), and improved aging and deterioration of hair appearance. In addition, as described above, hair loss progresses with aging and the amount of hair decreases in this mouse, and it was confirmed that the aged group receiving WY significantly increased the amount of hair compared to the aged non-feeding group. Therefore, it can be said that intake of WY peptide is effective in promoting hair growth and suppressing hair loss.

Claims (10)

A composition for improving the appearance of hair, comprising a dipeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence of WY or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof as an active ingredient. 2. The composition according to claim 1, which is used for suppressing and/or improving appearance deterioration of hair. 3. The composition according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the appearance deterioration of hair is due to aging. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the deterioration of hair appearance is related to hair volume and/or hair quality. 5. The composition according to claim 4, wherein the appearance deterioration related to hair volume is at least one selected from the group consisting of hair loss, thinning hair and reduction in hair thickness. 5. The composition according to claim 4, wherein the deterioration of appearance related to hair quality is at least one selected from the group consisting of bleaching of hair color, lightening of hair color, reduction of hair gloss and reduction of hair hardness. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 6, which is intended to be ingested by middle-aged and elderly people. The composition according to any one of claims 1 to 7, which is in the form of food. A composition for treatment, prevention or improvement of hair loss, thinning, bleaching and/or thinning of hair, comprising a dipeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence of WY or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof as an active ingredient. A composition for promoting hair growth and/or inhibiting hair loss, comprising a dipeptide consisting of the amino acid sequence of WY or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof as an active ingredient.

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