Summary
The graying of hair, one of the most constant symptoms of aging, has been examinated with the combined dopa-premelanin reaction (Mishima) which was applied in light as well as, partly, in electron microscopy. 4 mm punch biopsies were taken from the temporal region of 49 males and females with gray or white hair and 11 younger controls with blond to black hair and prepared. The results were:
There was no uniform, simultaneous or gradual decrease in hairpigmentation. Each hair behaved as an individual, i.e. it remained pigmented, was only poorly pigmented or lacked entirely melanin although the hair seemed to be predominantly white or gray! The immediate cause of the depigmentation was, that melanocytes in the hair bulb were greatly reduced in number or totally absent.
A prominent feature in light and electron microscopy was the marked vacuolization of pigment cells indicating probably degenerative changes. The subcellular constituents were poorly organized, melanosomes, premelanosomes and mitochondria reduced and/or structurally altered. The endoplasmatic reticulum showed irregular outlines, the perinuclear spaces were widened, small accessory nuclei were observed as in tumor cells, with a disturbed protein metabolism. No Langerhanscells were found. The pigment transfer, so far, was not changed when-ever active or inactive melanocytes were present in the hair bulb. In these cases melanosomes and premelanosomes could be seen in matrix and cortex cells.
In light microscopy, the Mishima-technic made it possible in a given slide to demonstrate, hairbulbs with and without melanocytes or with varying numbers.
The depopulation of melanocytes in the bulbs of white or gray hair seems to be identical with the depopulation seen in the epidermal melanocyte system where these specialized cells begin to vanish early in adult life, with the speed of 11% in every decade.
Zusammenfassung
Berichtet wurde über Untersuchungen zum Problem des Ergrauens oder Weißwerdens der Haare. Insgesamt standen für die lichtoptischen und elektronenmikroskopischen Befunderhebungen 49 Biopsien aus der Kopfhaut älterer Menschen sowie 11 Gewebsentnahmen bei jüngeren Probanden zur Verfügung. Als Ergebnis konnte festgestellt werden: Der von Haar zu Haar unterschiedliche, weder simultan, uniform, noch von grau zu weiß graduell eintretende Verlust an Melanocyten, welcher das Grau- oder Weißwerden der Haare bedingt. Es findet sich dabei ein ähnliches, mosaikartiges Verhalten beim Pigmentschwund wie im Wachstum: Haare mit gut erhaltenem, fehlenden oder reduzierten Pigmentzellbesatz sind in ein und derselben Schnittebene beim 3–4 μ-Serienschnitt dicht nebeneinander anzutreffen.
Lichtoptisch wurde mit der für diese und andere Fragestellungen hervorragend geeigneten kombinierten Imprägnations- und Inkubationsmethode nach Mishima gearbeitet, welche auch für einen Teil der elektronenmikroskopischen Präparate nach Adaptation angewandt wurde.
Der Verlust der Melanocyten im grauen und weißen Haar ist ebenso eine Funktion des Alters, wie die schon im jungen Erwachsenenalter beginnende Reduktion der epidermalen Melanocyten. Daß man derartige, in der gesamten Melanocyten-population des Menschen gleichsinnig ablaufende Altersveränderungen, welche mit dem definitiven Schwund spezialisierter Elemente des Nervensystems (Melanocyten) einhergehen, medikamentös nicht beeinflussen kann, liegt auf der Hand.
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Herrn Prof. Dr. W. Schneider, Tübingen, zum 60. Geburtstag freundlichst gewidmet.
Für die finanzielle Unterstützung dieser Arbeit sei der Fa. H. Schwarzkopf, Hamburg, herzlich gedankt.
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Herzberg, J., Gusek, W. Das Ergrauen des Kopfhaares. Arch. klin. exp. Derm. 236, 368–384 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00504765
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00504765