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Haarfarbe und Haarpigment

Elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchungen am natürlichen und gebleichten Haarpigment

Hair colour and hair pigment

Electronmicroscopic Investigations on Natural and Bleached Hair

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Summary

Electron microscopic investigations on blond, black, red, white and bleached human scalp hairs revealed:

  1. 1.

    In human scalp hairs 3 forms of melanin granules were observed, i. e.pheomelanin granules (PhG),eumelanin granules (EuG), anderythromelanin granules (ErG), which determine the colour in blond, black and red hair correspondingly.

  2. 2.

    Since transitional forms between the different granules in blond and black hairs were not observed in these studies, PhG seemed to be a distinct form rather than a precursor of EuG.

  3. 3.

    Erythromelanin granules were polymorphous, in contrast to the lamellated pheomelanin granules and the homogeneous eumelanin granules. The protein skeleton of the erythromelanin granules seemed to be unstable most likely due to an interaction of the melanin polymer with the cysteine components of the skeleton.

  4. 4.

    The different hues of the examined hairs (blond to dark blond to black) were related to the total number of melanin granules and to the rate of PhG to EuG in each hair.

  5. 5.

    Light blond hairs of children or white hairs of older people contained only detritus of melanin granules or none at all.

  6. 3.

    Bleaching of the hair with H2O2 led to a destruction and dissolution of the melanin granules. There was no evidence for a depolymerisation of the melanin polymer, since no praemelanosomes occurred in bleached hairs.

Zusammenfassung

Elektronenmikroskopische Untersuchungen an blonden, schwarzen, roten, weißen und gebleichten Haaren ergaben:

  1. 1.

    Morphologisch lassen sich Phäomelaningranula(PhG), Eumelaningranula(EuG) und Erythromelaningranula(ErG), die für die Haarfarben Blond, Schwarz und Rot bestimmend sind, unterscheiden.

  2. 2.

    Die PhG sind offenbar keine Vorstufen der EuG, sondern unterschiedliche Differenzierungsformen einer gemeinsamen Vorstufe.

  3. 3.

    Die ErG unterscheiden sich von den PhG und EuG durch ihre Polymorphie. Sie besitzen ein labiles Eiweißgerüst, welches möglicherweise auf eine besondere Melanoproteinkoppelung zurückzuführen ist.

  4. 4.

    Die Haarfarbe steht in Relation zur Art und Menge der Melaningranula im Haar. Hellstblonde Kinderhaare oder weiße Haare im Alter enthalten entweder keine Melaningranula oder lediglich Granuladetritus.

  5. 5.

    Der Bleicheffekt von H2O2 beruht nicht auf einer gesetzmäßig ablaufenden Depolymerisierung der Melanoproteinkomplexe, sondern auf Zerstörung und Herauslösung der Melaningranula.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universitäts-Hautklinik Köln, BRD

    G. Mahrle & C. E. Orfanos

Authors
  1. G. Mahrle
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  2. C. E. Orfanos
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Additional information

Diese Untersuchungen wurden durch das Forschungsamt des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen unterstützt.

Herrn Prof. Dr. H. Ruska (Düsseldorf) zum 65. Geburtstag gewidmet.

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Mahrle, G., Orfanos, C.E. Haarfarbe und Haarpigment. Arch. Derm. Forsch. 248, 109–122 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00595627

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00595627

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