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PubMed1993

Hair melanins and hair color: ultrastructural and biochemical aspects.

The color variants of mammalian hair, including spotting and albinism, are the result of melanocyte activity and have been shown to be determined by the action of multiple genes, some of which operate through the milieu in which the pigment cell resides; others appear to act intracellularly to control the type of melanogenesis. Although there has been much descriptive work on the mode of action of these genes, it has only been with the recent advances in the chemistry and molecular biology of melanin pigmentation that some progress is being made in understanding the nature and origin of hair color. It is the purpose of this article to provide an integrated overview of the major advances so made and to draw attention to certain peculiarities of the melanization processes of hair with respect to those underlying skin pigmentation. Key words: melanins, melanocytes, melanogenesis, hair.

Hair↗
PubMed2001

The concentration of three anti-seizure medications in hair: the effects of hair color, controlling for dose and age.

BACKGROUND: This paper assess the relationship between the quantity of three anti-seizure medications in hair and the color of the analyzed hair, while controlling for the effects of dose, dose duration, and patient age for 140 clinical patients undergoing anti-seizure therapy. Three drugs are assessed: carbamazepine (40 patients), valproic acid (40 patients), and phenytoin (60 patients). The relationship between hair assay results, hair color, dose, dose duration, and age is modeled using an analysis of covariance. The covariance model posits the hair assay results as the dependent variable, the hair color as the qualitative categorical independent variable, and dose, dose duration, and age as covariates. The null hypothesis assessed is that there is a no relationship between hair color and the quantity of analyte determined by hair assay such that darker colored hair will demonstrate higher concentrations of analyte than lighter colored hair. RESULTS: The analysis reveals that there is a significant relationship between dose and concentration for all hair color categories independent of the other covariates or the categorical independent variable. CONCLUSION: There does not appear to be any relationship between carbamazepine concentration and hair color. There is a weak relationship between hair color and valproic acid concentration, which the data suggest may be mediated by age. There is a significant, moderate relationship between phenytoin concentration and hair color such that darker colored hair has greater concentration values than lighter colored hair.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1990

Mosaic hair color changes in alopecia areata.

This paper documents the mosaic hair color changes in two patients with extensive alopecia areata. The authors suggest that these changes are the end result of localized immunologic reactions directed against the melanocyte, resulting in a cytotoxic effect on the melanocytes and altering the hair color. Visually, the change is identified as patchy lightening, occasional depigmentation, and whitening of existing scalp hair. These changes reflect increased activity and progression of alopecia areata.

Alopecia Areata↗
PubMed1989

Perception of attractiveness by obesity and hair color.

In a study of 318 Caucasian college students, obese persons and redheaded men were seen as unattractive compared to the nonobese and other hair colors. The obesity stereotype and the hair-color stereotype appear to be evaluated separately with little interaction. The results imply that a stereotypic characteristic like obesity, which is perceived as being under a person's control, may be evaluated differently than a stereotypic characteristic independent of personal choice such as hair color.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Hair-coloring product use and risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma: a population-based case-control study in Connecticut.

A population-based case-control study was conducted in Connecticut in 1996-2002 to test the hypothesis that lifetime hair-coloring product use increases non-Hodgkin's lymphoma risk. A total of 601 histologically confirmed incident female cases and 717 population-based controls were included in the study. An increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was observed among women who reported use of hair-coloring products before 1980 (odds ratio = 1.3, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0, 1.8). The odds ratios were 2.1 (95% CI: 1.0, 4.0) for those using darker permanent hair-coloring products for more than 25 years and 1.7 (95% CI: 1.0, 2.8) for those who had more than 200 applications. Follicular type, B-cell, and low-grade lymphoma generally showed an increased risk. On the other hand, the authors found no increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma overall and by subtype of exposure and disease among women who started using hair-coloring products in 1980 or later. It is currently unknown why an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was found only among women who started using hair-coloring products before 1980. Further studies are warranted to show whether the observed association reflects the change in hair dye formula contents during the past two decades or indicates that recent users are still in their induction and latent periods.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Statistical examination of hair color as a potential biasing factor in hair analysis.

We review eight different data sets in this paper for the purposes of assessing the possibility that reported color of hair can produce a systematic bias in the interpretation of hair assays. We review studies or data sets that include heroin and its metabolites, cocaine and its metabolites, MDMA and its analogs, and amphetamine and methamphetamine. The studies have utilized a variety of different degrees of color categorization, ranging from the simple dichotomy of brown and black, to a high of 12 categories. The mean number of categories reported approaches 6 (mean = 5.875). There are a total of 2791 data points in this analysis. We utilize two major statistical techniques for assessing significance; one-way analysis of variance, and Tukey's Honestly Significant Difference procedure. In circumstances were only dichotomous contrasts are possible, one-way analysis of variance is used. In contrasts involving three or more categorical groups, Tukey's procedure is used. In circumstances where the homogeneity of group variances is not sustained by the Levene statistic, we use the Tamahane procedure, allowing an assessment that assumes unequal variances. The analysis of this data fails to discern a significant color effect. We speculate that it may be that variance is large in many domains affecting analyte recovery from hair. In large groups these variations tend to regress towards a typical or mean value. Thus the data here show that while there are group or aggregate differences in these 'typical' values, they are not great when considered in relation to the within-group variations which exist for those values. It is our view that color may play a role in the accumulation of drugs in hair, however it is likely to account for only a very small part of the complex process of drug accumulation.

Bias↗
PubMed2001

Melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene variants are associated with an increased risk for cutaneous melanoma which is largely independent of skin type and hair color.

Individuals carrying melanocortin 1 receptor gene variants have an increased risk for the development of cutaneous melanoma. Melanocortin 1 receptor gene variants are also associated with other risk factors for melanoma such as fair skin and red hair. We evaluated the relationship of melanocortin 1 receptor gene variants, fair skin, red hair and the development of melanoma in 123 patients with cutaneous melanoma and 385 control subjects. To analyze the association between melanocortin 1 receptor gene variants and skin type or hair color we also made use of 453 patients with nonmelanoma skin cancer. We analyzed the coding sequence of the melanocortin 1 receptor gene region by single-stranded conformation polymorphism analysis, followed by DNA sequence analysis. Risk of melanoma dependent on the various melanocortin 1 receptor variant alleles was estimated by exposure odds ratios. The analyses of all different melanocortin 1 receptor gene variants combined, showed that the presence of melanocortin 1 receptor gene variants amounted to a higher melanoma risk, which, in stratified analyses, was independent of skin type and hair color. The odds ratios after adjusting for skin type were 3.6 (95% CI 1.7-7.2) for two variants and 2.7 (95% CI 1.5-5.1) for one variant, respectively. Compound heterozygotes and homozygotes for the Val60Leu, Val92Met, Arg142His, Arg151Cys, Arg160Trp, Arg163Gln, and His260Pro variants had odds ratios of about 4 to develop melanoma, whereas heterozygotes for these variants had half the risk. The presence of the melanocortin 1 receptor gene variant Asp84Glu appeared to impose the highest risk for cutaneous melanoma with odds ratios of 16.1 (95% CI 2.3-139.0) and 8.1 (95% CI 1.2-55.9) in compound heterozygotes and heterozygotes, respectively. The broad confidence intervals, when the different variants were analyzed separately, however, do not allow drawing definite conclusions about the magnitude of these risks. Of the more frequently occurring melanocortin 1 receptor variant alleles the Asp84Glu, Arg142His, Arg151Cys, Arg160Trp, His260Pro, and Asp294His variants were strongly associated with both fair skin and red hair. The Val60Leu, Val92Met, and Arg163Gln variant alleles, however, were only weakly or not associated with fair skin type and/or red hair, which further illustrates the finding that skin type, hair color, and melanoma are independent outcomes of the presence of melanocortin 1 receptor gene variants. We conclude that numerous melanocortin 1 receptor variants predispose to cutaneous melanoma and that possibly the Asp84Glu variant confers the highest risk. This predisposition is largely independent of skin type and hair color.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Hair analysis for drugs of abuse. Hair color and race differentials or systematic differences in drug preferences?

There is currently a debate in the literature on chemical drug analysis concerning the contribution of biophysical attributes associated with specimens and specimen donors to assay outcome. In recent years this debate has focused on hair analysis, but has in the past also been raised in urinalysis interpretation. In this article we examine several aspects of that controversy. First, we present data regarding the effects of hair color on the distribution of positive hair testing results for three drug classes. We compare these results to negative hair samples from comparable donors. This data is derived from head hair from preemployment donors that was classified according to seven visual color categories. We determined the distribution of colors for hair samples devoid of any of three assayed drugs (amphetamines, cocaine, and cannabinoids). Subsequently, this distribution was compared with the distributions for hairs that had tested positive for amphetamines, cocaine or cannabinoids. We examined a total of 2000 randomly selected samples; 500 negative hair samples and 500 positive samples for each of three drugs: cannabinoids, cocaine, and amphetamine. We also evaluated ethnic/racial factors in relation to positive urinalyses for various ethnic/racial groups. We examined approximately 4000 urine specimens from two different groups, each constituting around 2000 specimens. In addition to ethnicity/race and urinalysis outcome, we also examined the relationship between the hair color distributions of urine donors and the corresponding urinalysis results for the three drug classes. We also compared them to drug-negative samples. Our summary impression is that the observed outcome patterns were largely consistent with differences in drug preferences among the various societal groups. There was little evidence of a pattern attributable to hair color bias alone or selective binding of drugs to hair of a particular color. Likewise, there was no discernible pattern associated with race or ethnicity that would lend support to a "race effect" in drug analysis.

Amphetamines↗
PubMed1983

The influence of hair color on the concentration of zinc and copper in boys' hair.

Head hair of 150 normal boys from Brazil ranging in age from 1 to 12 years was studied for the influence of color on concentrations of zinc and copper. Hair color was classified visually and also quantified by melanin concentration. Visual classification and spectrophotometric measurements of melanin showed good agreement for blond and black colors, whereas large discrepancies were observed for intermediate colors such as light and dark brown. Hair distributed in four ranges of melanin concentration (the numerical estimate of color) showed no significant differences for concentration of Zn and Cu but showed a significantly higher (P less than 0.01) concentration for Zn:Cu in black hair than in the other color groups. Correlation between mineral content (Zn and Cu) and melanin was low and nonsignificant except for Zn in hair color ranging from 0-100 melanin units (r = -0.34, P less than 0.05). Discussion of these findings is presented regarding the importance of hair color change in children and estimation of mineral nutritional status.

Brazil↗
PubMed1987

Associations of handedness with hair color and learning disabilities.

Forms containing the Edinburgh handedness inventory and questions about learning disabilities, hair color, self-described handedness, age, gender, parental handedness and twinning were received from 1117 randomly selected professionals. Laterality scores (LS, range -100 to +100) were calculated for each respondent based on the handedness inventory and were correlated with the above variables. Among blonds, the frequency of non right-handedness (NRH, LS less than or equal to 70) was 44% compared to 24% of non-blonds (chi 2 = 23.5, P less than 0.0001). Learning disabilities (LD) were present in 9% of NRH (LS less than or equal to 70) as against 3% of those with LS greater than 70 (chi 2 = 22.1, P less than 0.0001). Associations between LS and self-described handedness, parental handedness, gender, and age are also presented. Possible explanations for the association of hair color and handedness are discussed in light of recent data on altered visual system pathways in albinos. Problems in the measurement of handedness are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The effect of hair color on the incorporation of methadone into hair in the rat.

Six groups of six male, hooded, Lister rats were administered methadone in their drinking water over the concentration range 0-0.25 mg/mL for 6 weeks. Black pigmented and white nonpigmented hair and trunk blood samples were collected. Plasma and alkali digests of hair were analyzed for methadone by radioimmunoassay. Hair melanin content was estimated in digests by turbidimetry. Oral methadone intake rose in a linear fashion over the six dose groups, and plasma methadone concentration followed a similar trend. The methadone content of both white and black hair increased over the six dose groups, but concentrations were significantly higher in black compared with white hair. The mean ratio of methadone concentration between black and white hair was 21.3:1, and the mean ratio in hair melanin content was 3.5:1. The results demonstrate that pigmented hair incorporates larger quantities of methadone than nonpigmented hair and that methadone binds with higher affinity to the pigmented components as compared with other components of hair.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed1998

The incorporation of drugs into hair: relationship of hair color and melanin concentration to phencyclidine incorporation.

Rodents with different hair pigmentation patterns were studied to evaluate the role of melanin in the incorporation of phencyclidine (PCP) into hair. There are two types of melanin in hair and other tissues: eumelanin, a brown-black pigment and pheomelanin, a reddish-yellow pigment. Sprague Dawley (SD; nonpigmented), Dark Agouti (DA; brown), Copenhagen (CP; brown hooded), Long Evans (LE; black hooded), and LBNF1 (deep brown) rats and Swiss-Webster (SW; nonpigmented), C57BL6 (black), and C57BL6 Ay/a (yellow) mice were administered PCP at 10 mg/kg/day for 5 days (n = 5 for each strain). Hair was collected either 14 (rats) or 35 (mice) days (mice) after beginning drug administration and analyzed for PCP, eumelanin, and pheomelanin. PCP concentrations in ng/mg (mean +/- SEM) were as follows: SD, 0.46 +/- 0.13; DA, 12.25 +/- 1.24; CP nonpigmented, 0.12 +/- 0.004; CP pigmented, 9.16 +/- 2.8; LE nonpigmented, 0.66 +/- 0.07; LE pigmented, 21.2 +/- 1.4; LBNF1, 21.64 +/- 3.8; SW, 0.48 +/- 0.36; C57 black, 11.0 +/- 4.03; and C57 yellow, 2.26 +/- 0.55. Eumelanin concentrations in microg/mg (mean +/- SEM) were as follows: DA, 20.50 +/- 1.58; CP pigmented, 19.43 +/- 0.40; LE pigmented, 17.56 +/- 0.61; LBNF1, 27.26 +/- 2.52; C57 black, 37.33 +/- 3.61; and C57 yellow, 1.76 +/- 0.02. Eumelanin was not detected in nonpigmented hair. Pheomelanin concentrations in microg/mg (mean +/- SEM) were as follows: DA, 0.09 +/- 0.00; CP pigmented, 0.20 +/- 0.03; LBNF1, 0.06 +/- 0.01; C57 black, 0.16 +/- 0.05; and C57 yellow, 29.16 +/- 0.97. Pheomelanin was not detected in nonpigmented or LE pigmented hair. These data demonstrate that PCP is incorporated into black hair to a greater extent than yellow or nonpigmented hair. There appears to be a linear relationship between the PCP concentration in hair and the ratio of eumelanin to pheomelanin. Our data suggest that despite variations in PCP concentration because of hair color, they may be normalized by using the ratio of eumelanin to pheomelanin rather than hair weight.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Major locus for red hair color linked to MNS blood groups on chromosome 4.

Red hair color (RHC) was studied in a Danish material of normal families that was tested earlier for 65 marker systems. We found 4.85% of the parents to be red-haired or to have been so early in life. Scoring RHC for linkage as an autosomal dominant against blond and as hypostatic to dark hair gave a lod score of z = 5.50 at theta = 0.05 in males and theta = 0.24 in females for the MNS blood group system; this assigns a major locus for red hair to chromosome 4.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Hair color changes caused by dyeing and thermal treatments.

The aim of this study was to show the effect of heat exposure, dyeing, and shampooing on hair color as measured by diffuse reflectance spectrophotometry. Successive dyeing of virgin hair with six permanent commercial formulations showed that color saturation was obtained after the first dyeing cycle. An unexpectedly high difference in hair color saturation, measured as DE* values, was obtained for virgin hair samples that differed only in cleansing history. After six sequential washings of the dyed hair samples, no difference was observed in color durability, indicating that the adhesion strength is similar to long-lasting and tone-up dyeing formulations. Exposure to a hot plate at 172 degrees C showed a significant darkening of the virgin hair samples after 2 min. On the other hand, virgin hair samples exposed to the gentler heat of a hand dryer (approximately 60 degrees C) showed partial disappearance of the hair medulla after 60 min. However, values of total color difference were near the error limit.

Hair↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of hair color on luster.

The effect of color on instrumentally evaluated luster of hair dyed to different colors and depths of shades is studied. For natural hair colors, such as blond, brown, and black, the increase in luster with increasing color is associated with a decrease in diffusely scattered light as a result of light absorption by melanin granules. On dyed hair the interpretation of data from a goniophotometer (GP) is more complicated. Using the colors covering the extremes and middle of the visible spectrum, our results demonstrate how dye composition (single or multicomponent), concentration, and penetration depth into the fiber affect the absorptive and scattering processes within the hair fiber to impact luster. Finally, we make an attempt to study the effect of hair color on subjective evaluation of luster. An equation for perceived luster, taking into account the spectral sensitivity of the human eye is derived. Theoretical considerations show that the luster of hair of different colors is perceived differently by the human eye.

Hair↗
PubMed2005

Hot-water extracts from adzuki beans (Vigna angularis) stimulate not only melanogenesis in cultured mouse B16 melanoma cells but also pigmentation of hair color in C3H mice.

A hot-water extract of adzuki was obtained by boiling beans of adzuki (Vigna angularis). This hot-water extract was fractionated using HP-20 column chromatography. Its distilled water fraction (WEx) was found to stimulate tyrosinase activity in cultured mouse B16 melanoma cells and hair color pigmentation in C3H mice. At concentrations of 1-3 mg/ml, WEx stimulated melanogenesis without inhibiting cell growth. During this effect, WEx activated tyrosinase-inducing activity in the cells, but did not activate tyrosinase, which exists at an intracellular level. In this study, WEx increased cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophospate (cAMP) content in the cells and protein kinase A (PKA) activity, and stimulated translocation of cytosolic protein kinase C (PKC) to the membrane-bound PKC. These results suggest that the addition of WEx activates the adenylcyclase and protein kinase pathways and, as a result, stimulates melanogenesis. WEx was found to have pigmentation activity on hair color in C3H mice. It might be useful in anti-graying, protecting human skin from irradiation.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Skin type, hair color, and freckles are predictors of decreased minimal erythema ultraviolet radiation dose.

In a group of 190 white healthy subjects the skin type classification method was found valuable for differentiating subgroups with various degrees of sun sensitivity (except for 33% with borderline or unclassifiable skin type). Sun-sensitive skin types I and II were significantly more common among persons with light hair color or freckles, or both (p less than 0.001). In each skin type category the proportion of subjects with a minimal erythema dose (MED) lower than the median MED of the entire group (%LMED) decreased significantly with increasing skin type number, and distinguished between skin types I through III better than did their mean MED values. Independent predictors of %LMED were skin type and hair color. The contribution of freckles to %LMED was skin type dependent. Age, sex, or eye color had no independent effect on %LMED. The association of skin types I and II, red or blond hair, and freckles with decreased MED may reflect genetically controlled predominance of pheomelanin (a photosensitizing molecule) in the skin of subjects with these phenotypes.

Adult↗