Revita incorporates caffeine because clinical studies show that topical application of the stimulant, well-known for its effect on the central nervous system, also boosts human hair growth. This discovery portends more research on the management of androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness) using caffeine.

      An underlying progenitor of alopecia is the effect that testosterone exhibits to miniaturize follicles and cause them to stop producing hair. New tests indicate that the caffeine molecule (below), a xanthine alkaloid that causes alertness, works to counter this effect.

 A 2007 study conducted at Friedrich Schiller University in Germany investigated testosterone and caffeine. Hair follicles were biopsied from the vertices of 14 men in early stages of hormone-induced alopecia, then cultivated for 120-192 hours in vitro, with media containing various concentrations of testosterone and or caffeine. Hair shaft elongation was measured daily and at the end of cultivation.

      As expected, testosterone treatment suppressed hair growth. But adding caffeine in concentrations of 0.001% and 0.005% countered the testosterone effect. Further, caffeine alone led to significant stimulation of the follicles. Average hair growth was increased by 46 percent and life cycle by 37 percent.

      Another study, of follicular penetration by topical caffeine via shampoo, conducted at Charité Universitätsmedizin, in Berlin, sought to measure different methods of drug delivery for treatment of androgenetic alopecia. The conclusion was that caffeine applied topically by shampoo for two minutes penetrated hair follicles faster and better than by other routes.

      These studies demonstrate how the caffeine in Revita shampoo can help to preserve and regrow hair, so users can stave off baldness.