Skip to main content

Integral lipids of human hair

Lipids volume 23, pages 878–881 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

It has long been recognized that hair is coated with nonpolar lipids originating in the sebaceous glands, and recently it has been shown that hair also contains cholesterol sulfate and small amounts of ceramides, similar to those found in the keratinized portion of the epidermis. In the present study, it is demonstrated that significant amounts of several additional lipids are tightly associated with hair in such a way as to be highly resistant to solvent extraction.

These integral hair lipids included cholesterol sulfate (3.3 mg/g of extracted hair), cholesterol (0.6 mg/g), fatty alcohols (0.2 mg/g) and free fatty acids (4.3 mg/g). The principal fatty acid, comprising 40% of the total fatty acids, was identified as 18-methyl-eicosanoic acid by cochromatography with authentic standard on gas-liquid chromatography (GLC) and by mass spectrometry (MS).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Abbreviations

ECL:

equivalent chain lengths

GLC:

gas-liquid chromatography

MS:

mass spectrometry

TLC:

thin-layer chromatography

References

  1. Chapman, R.E. (1986) inBiology of the Integument, (Bereiter-Hahn, J., Matoltsy, A.G., and Richards, K.S., eds.) pp. 293–311, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, West Germany.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Birbeck, M.S.C., and Mercer, E.H. (1956)Nature 178, 985–986.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Rogers, G.E. (1959)Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 83, 378–399.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Parakkal, P.F., and Matoltsy, A.G. (1964)J. Invest. Dermatol. 43, 23–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Wix, M.A., Wertz, P.W., and Downing, D.T. (1987)Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 86B, 671–673.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Nicolaides, N., Fu, H.C., and Rice, G.R. (1968)J. Invest. Dermatol. 51, 83–89.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Stewart, M.E., Downing, D.T., and Strauss, J.S. (1983)Dermatol. Clin. 1, 335–344.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Wertz, P.W., and Downing, D.T. (1987)Biochim. Biophys. Acta 917, 108–111.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Swartzendruber, D.S., Wertz, P.W., Madison, K.C., and Downing, D.T. (1987)J. Invest. Dermatol. 88, 709–713.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Downing, D.T. (1968)J. Chromatogr. 38, 91–99.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Downing, D.T., Kranz, F.H., and Murray, K.E. (1960)Aust. J. Chem. 13, 80–94.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Nicolaides, N., and Apon, J.M.B. (1976)Lipids 11, 781–790.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Abrahamsson, S., Stallberg-Stenhagen, S., and Stenhagen, E. (1963)Prog. Chem. Fats Other Lipids 7, 1–164.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Wertz, P.W., and Downing, D.T. (1986)Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 137, 992–997.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Nicolaides, N., Fu, H.C., Ansari, M.N.A., and Rice, G.R. (1972)Lipids 7, 506–517.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Zuneda, M.C., Guillenea, J.J., Dominguez, J.B., Prado, A., and Goni, F.M. (1984)Lipids 19, 223–228.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Song, Y., Sawa, T., Tsuvhiya, M., Kondo, S., Hamada, M., and Umezawa, H. (1981)J. Antibiot. Tokyo 34, 980–983.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Kaneda, T., and Smith, E.J. (1980)Can. J. Microbiol. 26, 893–898.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Marshall Dermatology Research Laboratories, Department of Dermatology, University of Iowa College of Medicine, 52242, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Philip W. Wertz & Donald T. Downing

Authors
  1. Philip W. Wertz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Donald T. Downing
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

About this article

Cite this article

Wertz, P.W., Downing, D.T. Integral lipids of human hair. Lipids 23, 878–881 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02536208

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02536208

Keywords

  • Fatty Acid Methyl Ester
  • Stratum Corneum
  • Fatty Alcohol
  • Free Sterol
  • Stearyl Alcohol