Female Hair Research Articles

Microscopic Characteristics Of Scalp Hair Subjected To Cultural Styling Methods In Ghanaian African Females.

PurposeTo provide data for forensic use and provoke ideas to preserve shaft integrity, we studied microstructural alterations of female scalp hair subjected to Ghanaian cultural styling methods. Hence, topographical features of female hairs styled by braiding/weaving, and chemical relaxation sampled from five different scalp regions were assessed and compared with natural (Afro) hair.Subjects and methodsNinety-six indigenous Ghanaian females volunteered 480 hairs, which were analyzed by light microscopy. Hairs were plucked using a pair of cosmetologist’s tweezers from frontal, left temporal, right temporal, vertex, and occipital regions of the scalp. Hairs were categorized by their grooming styles as Afro (natural-unstyled), natural-styled (weaved/braided), and chemically relaxed. These were studied according to shaft/medulla dimensions and conventional cuticular scale features, and comparisons were made between styling procedures and scalp regions.ResultsChemically styled hair had the widest shaft diameter, but the lowest incidence of continuous medullation. Medullary diameter and index increased from chemically relaxed, natural-styled, to Afro hair. A positive but modest correlation between shaft and medullary diameters existed for Afro (r = 0.320, p = 0.011) and natural-styled hairs (r = 0.235, p = 0.022) but not chemically relaxed hair (r = 0.122, p = 0.2). Scale margins were predominantly smooth in Afro hair, crenate in natural-styled hair, and rippled in chemically relaxed hair. With respect to scalp regions, hair shaft diameter was widest in vertex hair and smallest in right temporal hair in all styling methods.ConclusionMedulla was thickest in Afro hair, which also exhibited a correlation with shaft diameter in conformity with the published data. Chemically relaxed hairs did not exhibit these characteristics, which affirm altered morphology. Research on how chemicals affect these changes should help find antidote. The dimensional variations of hairs from different scalp regions are instructive for both cosmetic and forensic examination of hairs.

Age, lifestyle and self‐perceptions of hair: Is there an association with hair diameter and tensile properties?

To determine the association of age, lifestyle habits and the self-perception of hair condition with the objectively measured physical properties of hair in Caucasian females with brown hair. Hair biophysical properties, lifestyle habits data and self-perceptions of hair condition were collected on 110 Caucasian females with brown hair ranging in age from 17 to 78. Hair diameter (cross-sectional area) and tensile properties (elastic modulus, break strength and break extension) were measured at the root end of individual fibres (n=100/subject) from the crown and frontal regions using objective instrumental methods. Other measures included body mass index (BMI) and Savin female pattern hair loss grades based on judging of standardized front, top and side view head images. Lifestyle habits and practices and self-perceived hair condition were obtained via a standardized self-assessment questionnaire. Hair fibre diameter and break extension decreased significantly with age. Hair fibre elastic modulus and Savin hair loss scores increased significantly with age. No age-related change in hair fibre break stress was observed. A history of smoking or being overweight was significantly associated with having lower hair fibre cross-sectional area but was not associated with any of the measured tensile properties. Subjects who perceived their hair as fine, thinning or weak had significantly lower cross-sectional areas than subjects who did not. Subjects who perceived their hair to be healthy or strong had significantly higher cross-sectional areas than subjects who did not. The biophysical properties of hair change significantly with age. A history of smoking or being overweight was significantly associated with having smaller hair cross-sectional area but was not associated with differences in hair tensile properties. The self-perception of having strong or healthy hair seems more associated with having a larger cross-sectional area than any real differences in hair strength.Abstrait.

Female hair loss

Hair loss in female patients is a distressing condition. Patients can present to GPs for assessment, advice and consideration of onward referral. A wide range of disorders can lead to hair loss in females. This article will outline common disorders and their clinical features, including investigation and management strategies for primary and secondary care. A sound understanding of the course and prognosis of diseases allows open discussion with patients during healthcare consultations, and is important given the distressing nature of hair loss.

Effects of Aging on Hair Color, Melanosome Morphology, and Melanin Composition in Japanese Females.

In a previous study, we showed that the size of melanosomes isolated from Japanese female hairs enlarges with age, and this affects the hair color. In this study, we analyzed the age-dependent changes in hair melanin in order to further explore the factors related to hair color changing by aging. A significant positive correlation with age was found in the total melanin amount (TM) and the mol% of 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) units, while no correlation was found in pheomelanin mol%. TM showed significant correlations with hair color parameters and the melanosome volume, suggesting that hair color darkening by aging is caused by the increase in TM due to the enlargement of the size of melanosome. From the measurement of absorbance spectra on synthetic eumelanins with different ratios of DHI and 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA), we found that the increase in DHI mol% also contributes to the darkening of hair color by aging. In addition, the level of pyrrole-2,3-dicarboxylic acid (PDCA), a marker of DHI melanin, showed a significant negative correlation with the aspect ratio of melanosome, suggesting a contribution of DHI melanin to the change in melanosome morphology by aging.

Chemical Markers for Short- and Long-Term Areca Nut Exposure

Background: Areca nut (AN) chewing causes oral cancer. AN cessation programs are the most effective approach to reduce AN chewing induced cancers but require biomarkers to determine program compliance and success. Objectives: To explore chemical markers for short- and long-term AN exposure using non-invasively collected saliva, buccal cells (BCs), and scalp hair of chewers. Methods: Saliva was collected from a male chewer before and up to 2 days after AN chewing. Saliva was separated into supernatant and pellet (BCs) then analyzed by spectrophotometry and liquid chromatography (LC) with UV/VIS detection. Scalp hair was collected from four chewers and analyzed for areca alkaloids using direct analysis in real time-tandem mass spectrometry (DART-MSMS). Results: The red pigmented saliva after chewing showed no valuable signals when either the saliva supernatant or pellet (BCs) were analyzed by spectrophotometry. Saliva analysis by LC–UV/VIS showed diagnostically valuable signals at 488 nm up to 5 and 24 h post chewing in the supernatant and pellet, respectively. DART-MSMS analysis detected two of the four AN specific alkaloids (arecoline and arecaidine) in male but none in female hair. Conclusions/Importance: LC–UV/VIS analysis of the red pigments extracted from saliva and BCs after AN chewing showed distinct signals up to 24 h post chewing while DART-MSMS analysis in BCs and scalp hair showed selective signals of AN alkaloids for several weeks or months after AN exposure. Chemical hair treatment might prevent detection of areca alkaloids in hair. AN cessation trials and other programs now have essential tools for bioverification.

Assessing exposure to legacy and emerging per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances via hair – The first nationwide survey in India

In recent years, environmental issues emerging from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have raised high concern worldwide. Levels of human exposure to PFAS remain unknown in India. Biomonitoring data obtained from hair analysis have been evidenced to provide insight into retrospective human exposure to PFAS. In this study, 25 PFAS, including perfluoroalkyl acids and their precursors, were measured in 39 human hair samples collected from 14 cities in India. The inuflence of gender on the PFAS levels was also examined. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt to provide preliminary indicative data (due to the limited sample size and variability in hair-length sampling) on the levels of PFAS in Indian hair. The concentrations of total PFAS in hair varied from below matrix-specific limit of quantification (<0.02 ng/g) to 3.78 ng/g. Among 9 PFAS quantified, perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) were the predominant compounds. Categorized into 4 regions, PFAS contamination exhibited certain regional difference where South India may show higher levels than the other regions. Highly significant positive correlation was observed between PFHxS and PFOS (p ≪ 0.001; r = 0.644), suggesting similar pathways of exposure to the two compounds. Higher PFAS occurrence was generally observed in the hair of females. Our results highlighted the urgent need to investigate the deposition mechanism of PFAS in hair.

Effectiveness and safety of low-dose oral minoxidil in male androgenetic alopecia

Effectiveness and safety of low-dose oral minoxidil in male androgenetic alopecia

The role of photobiomodulation when associated with microneedling in female pattern hair loss: A randomized, double blind, parallel group, three arm, clinical study protocol.

The female hair loss pattern was originally described as a synonym for androgenetic alopecia. It has been defined as progressive miniaturizations of the hair follicles, with a great impact on the quality of life of affected patients, causing significant psychosocial limitations. It was recently proven that photobiomodulation is a safe and effective way to treat the different types of hair loss. It was also known that microneedling is a minimally invasive dermatological procedure that is applied to a wide range of dermatological conditions, including androgenic alopecia, telogen effluvium, as well as other facial and bodily conditions.Goal:The aim of this study is to verify if there is an increase in the capillary density of strands of hair, when combining 660 nm red laser photobiomodulation and microneedling in addressing female pattern hair loss (FPHL).Methods:There will be 66 patients divided into 3 treatment groups. G1: microneedling and 660 nm red laser photobiomodulation sham; G2: 660 nm red laser photobiomodulation and microneedling sham; G3: microneedling and 660 nm red laser photobiomodulation. The treatment will consist in 36 sessions, 3 times a week for 3 consecutive months, with an insertion of microneedling every 30 days. The patients and the researchers will be blinded. The patients will be evaluated before, during, and after the treatments, by digital photography and the trichoscopy method (dermoscopic imaging of the scalp and hair).Expected Results:It is expected that differences will be found in the growth rates of a strand of hair in mm/d, in the density of a strand of hair in n/cm2, in the diameter of a strand of hair, as well as in the anagen/telogen ratio.Ethics and dissemination:This protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Nove de Julho University, São Paulo, Brazil, on the date of November 28, 2018 (CAAE: 01381718.0.0000.5511 - Acceptance Number: 3044061). This trial has been registered with the Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (REBEC TRIAL RBR-76VCCV). This study is not yet recruiting. Issue date: February 20, 2019.

He Found a Hair and It Bothered Him: Female Pubic Hair Removal in the Talmud

He Found a Hair and It Bothered Him: Female Pubic Hair Removal in the Talmud

The Factors Effect on Weaning Weight of Hair Goats in West Anatolia

Objective:In this study; the relationships of several traits effects of Turkish Hair Goats were investigated by canonic correlation analysis. Therefore determining more effective factors on weaning weight of Hair goats are aimed.Material and Methods: The data were utilized from 1020 male and 1011 female Hair goat kids which were born in the period 2013 to 2016. The herd, year of birth, birth type and sex are analyzed as the first set of variables (X); weight at birth, weight at thirty day of age and weight at weaning age effects are analyzed as the second set of variables (Y). By performing canonical correlation analysis, canonical correlations between the first, second and third pair of canonical variates were estimated and three canonical correlation were found significant (P &amp;lt; 0.01).Results:The biggest correlations between year of birth, sex, birth type variables and v1, v2 and v3 canonical variates were found -0.77%, 0.87% and -0.82%, respectively. The biggest correlations between weight at birth, weight at thirty day of age and weight at weaning age and w1, w2 and w3 canonical variates were found 0.84%, -0.97% and -0.78%, respectively. As a result it has been determined that sex and birth type play an important role in the formation of the goat kid’s body weights.Conclusion:Hair goats reared in West Anatolia are slaughtered mostly at the end of the weaning. Because of this, assessment the factors effect on weaning weight are important. Canonical correlation analysis therefore is used to analyze all factors at the same time to define relationships between each other of weaning traits for hair goats.

The prediction of live weight of hair goats through penalized regression methods: LASSO and adaptive LASSO.

The least absolute selection and shrinkage operator (LASSO) and adaptive LASSO methods have become a popular model in the last decade, especially for data with a multicollinearity problem. This study was conducted to estimate the live weight (LW) of Hair goats from biometric measurements and to select variables in order to reduce the model complexity by using penalized regression methods: LASSO and adaptive LASSO for and . The data were obtained from 132 adult goats in Honaz district of Denizli province. Age, gender, forehead width, ear length, head length, chest width, rump height, withers height, back height, chest depth, chest girth, and body length were used as explanatory variables. The adjusted coefficient of determination (), root mean square error (RMSE), Akaike's information criterion (AIC), Schwarz Bayesian criterion (SBC), and average square error (ASE) were used in order to compare the effectiveness of the methods. It was concluded that adaptive LASSO () estimated the LW with the highest accuracy for both male (; RMSE 3.6250; AIC 79.2974; SBC 65.2633; ASE 7.8843) and female (; RMSE 4.4069; AIC 392.5405; SBC 308.9888; ASE 18.2193) Hair goats when all the criteria were considered.

Female pattern hair loss.

Female pattern hair loss (FPHL) is a commonly encountered clinical presentation in primary care. Patterned hair loss in women is characterised by diffuse hair thinning and often becomes an ongoing cause of psychosocial distress. The aim of this article is to present a practical approach for the clinical assessment of female hair loss and to review the up-to-date treatment modalities. Alopecia can be the first symptom of systemic illness. It is therefore crucial for the primary care physician to be able to differentiate between FPHL and more concerning causes of hair loss. Treatment options often involve a combination of non-androgenic and androgenic therapy. The use of oral minoxidil in combination with oral spironolactone is a novel therapy with promising results. The role of the general practitioner is paramount in establishing the diagnosis, setting achievable therapeutic goals and navigating the psychosocial comorbidity associated with this chronic condition.

Human exposure to brominated flame retardants through dust in different indoor environments: Identifying the sources of concentration differences in hair from men and women

Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) can accumulate in humans and are associated with adverse health effects. The study was conducted to determine the differences in Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and alternative brominated flame retardant (Alt-BFR) concentrations between men and women. We analyzed hair samples from 14 male and 20 female university students, paired dust samples from their dormitories (10 for males and 8 for females), and six dust samples from university teaching buildings. The total PBDE concentrations in hair from females were significantly (three times) higher (p = 0.012) than that from males (means 372 and 109 ng/g, respectively). The mean total PBDE concentrations in classroom and dormitory dust were 36100 and 2012 ng/g, respectively. The PBDE patterns were different in the male and female hair samples, as were the patterns in the classroom and dormitory dust. There are no reports concerning human exposure to BFRs through dust that was assessed considering academic and residential environments simultaneously. The differences between BFR exposure for males and females and the differences between BFR concentrations in hair samples from males and females were consistent for 71.4% of the compounds. However, using only dormitory dust in the calculations gave consistent differences only for 28.6% of the compounds, suggesting that the BFR concentration differences in hair were mainly because females spent much more time than males in classrooms.

Demographic Characteristics of Korean Men A Study on Correlation with Preference for Female Hair Style

Demographic Characteristics of Korean Men A Study on Correlation with Preference for Female Hair Style

Maintenance and growth requirements in male and female hair lambs

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the energy and protein requirements of intact male, castrated male and female Morada Nova lambs. The animals were distributed in a completely randomized 3×3 factorial design with three sexes (15 intact males, 16 castrated males and 16 females) and three levels of dietary restriction (ad libitum, 30% and 60% feed restriction) with an initial body weight (BW) of 14.50±0.89kg. Four animals per sex were slaughtered at the start of the trial as a baseline group. When the mean BW in the ad libitum treatment reached 28kg, at day 120 of the experiment, all lambs were slaughtered. For all sexes, the net energy requirement for maintenance was 73.0kcal/kg0.75 empty body weight (EBW)/d (P=0.17). The metabolizable energy efficiency for maintenance (km) was 0.58. The metabolizable energy efficiency utilization for gain (kg) was 0.36; 0.25 and 0.28 for intact males, castrated males and females, respectively. The net energy requirement for gain (NEg) differed (P<0.01) between sexes. The NEg was 0.191, 0.198 and 0.276Mcal/kg0.75 EBW/d for intact males, castrated males and females, respectively, with a BW of 20kg and a body weight gain (BWG) of 100g. The net and metabolizable protein requirements for maintenance obtained for lambs were 1.06g/kg0.75 BW/d (P=0.78) and 3.46g/kg0.75 BW/d (P=0.39), respectively. The net protein for gain (NPg) differed (P<0.01) between sexes. For animals weighing 20kg and with an average daily gain of 100g/d, NPg was 7.08, 7.11 and 6.78g/d for intact males, castrated males and females, respectively. The net energy and protein requirements for maintenance of Morada Nova lambs slaughtered between 15 and 28kg did not vary by sex. The net energy for gain increases and the net protein for gain decreased with the increase in body weight in hair lambs.

Assessment of Typical Heavy Metals in Human Hair of Different Age Groups and Foodstuffs in Beijing, China.

Human hair of different age groups and foodstuff samples were collected in Beijing, China. The concerned metals—Cd, Cr, Pb, As, and Hg—were analyzed, and the metal levels in relation to age, gender, and dietary intake were further assessed. Results showed the highest level of the metals was shown by Pb, with an average concentration of 1.557 ± 0.779 mg/kg, followed by Cr (0.782 ± 0.394), Hg (0.284 ± 0.094), As (0.127 ± 0.078), and Cd (0.071 ± 0.032), following a decreasing order of Pb > Cr > Hg > As > Cd, which were all below the upper limit of normal values in China. The heavy metal concentrations varied greatly among different age groups, and higher concentrations for Cd, Cr, Pb, and As appeared in female hair, whereas higher Hg concentration were found in male hair, suggesting that age and gender were not crucial factors for assessing metal concentrations in human hair. The ingestion of cereals and vegetables were the main route by which heavy metals in the environment create hazardous health effects for local inhabitants, but the estimated metal intakes through food consumption were all lower than the proposed limit of Provisional Tolerable Weekly Intake (PTWI), indicating that heavy metals posed no health risks for the inhabitants. Furthermore, little relationship was found between metal intakes and the corresponding metal levels in hair. Nevertheless, the results of this study can be used to analyze the internal heavy metal burden in the resident population of Beijing area and can also serve as reference for further studies.

A UHPLC-MS/MS method for profiling multifunctional steroids in human hair.

It is important to profile steroids in many physiological and pathological processes. Recently, hair has been used for the long-term measurement of endogenous steroid hormones. Analyzing hair has advantages of being noninvasive and time sequential compared with other bio-specimens. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) techniques have been widely used over the past decades; however, it is challenging to profile estrogens in hair by LC-MS, and more comprehensive steroid profiling is required. In this paper, an ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) method was developed to simultaneously profile 28 multifunctional steroids, including corticosteroids (n=6), estrogens (n=13), androgens (n=5) and progestogens (n=4), in human scalp hair in a single run. To optimize the sample preparation procedure, we evaluated extraction time, post-incubation purification and hair fragment length; 30mg hair samples were washed with hexane, cut into 5mm pieces and incubated in methanol for 18h at 25°C. Methanol extraction derivatized using Girard P and dansyl chloride reagent was analyzed within 25min using an automated injection program combined with a diverter valve switch and step analysis (AIDSA). The method was well validated in terms of linearity, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantification (LOQ), precision, accuracy, matrix effect and recovery, and was successfully applied to a steroid profile from male and female hairs. Significant differences were observed between genders. In addition, steroids showed a declining trend from the proximal to more distal hair segments; thus, care should be taken when obtaining hair samples for analysis to account for this difference in steroid levels along the length of hair. Graphical Abstract The workflow of the estabished UHPLC-MS/MS method.

Hair geochemical composition of children from Vilnius kindergartens as an indicator of environmental conditions.

The research is based on analysis data of Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, V, Zn (metals) and S in the hair of 47 girls and 63 boys from eight Vilnius kindergartens and the distribution pattern of high metal concentrations and bioavailability in snow-cover dust, also dust samples from vents of characteristic pollution sources. The kindergartens were selected according to topsoil total contamination index and dust-related indices. Significantly higher Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn concentrations in the hair of girls (means are 1.1, 1.9, 1.3, 1.2 times higher) and the differences between hair of genders according to inter-element correlation and clustering were found. Analysis of Spearman correlation coefficients between metal concentrations in hair of each gender and dust metal concentrations or metal loading rates at their residence sites revealed that for Mn, Cu and Zn, they are insignificant, while for Cr, Ni, Pb and V, they are mainly significant positive (except V in female hair). The correlation of the contents of Cr, Ni and V in dust with respective concentrations in hair was more significant for boys (p<0.001) than for girls. Only a few cases with a significant Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb and Zn increase were revealed in hair of children attending polluted kindergartens in comparison with control. It was concluded that relationship between metal concentrations in hair and dust-related indices is more expressed for children's residence sites than for their kindergarten sites. The gender-based grouping and site-by-site study design are recommended in the studies of reflection of environmental exposure in hair.

Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethanes (DDTs) in human hair and serum in rural and urban areas in South China

Human hair has been employed as a biomarker for exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs), but information on the source of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and its metabolites in hair is limited. The present study investigated the contamination of DDTs in human hair from a rural area and an urban area of South China and compared with those in human serum and indoor dust. The concentrations of ∑DDTs ranged from 2.30 to 489ng/g, with a median of 21.8ng/g in human hair. The ∑DDT concentrations (median=40.8ng/g) in female hair were significantly higher than those in male hair (median=20.6ng/g). There were significantly positive correlations between the concentrations of DDTs and ages in both the female and male hair, but the age-dependence for DDTs in serum was less significant. The profile of DDT analogues in female hair, differing from that in the male hair, was more similar to that in the indoor dust, suggesting a more important role of exogenous exposure in female hair. We estimated that exogenous source is responsible for approximately 11% and 20% of the burden of DDTs in the male and female hair, respectively. Adjusted multiple linear regression model showed significantly positive association between the p,p'-DDE concentrations in the paired hair and serum samples, indicating that endogenous origins are the primary sources of DDTs in the hair of the residents in the study areas. Our findings demonstrated that human hair is a reliable biomarker for body burden of DDTs and can be used in epidemiology research and retrospective assessment of DDT exposure.

Environmental biomonitoring of essential and toxic elements in human scalp hair using accelerated microwave-assisted sample digestion and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy

Human scalp hair samples were collected and used to assess exposure to toxic elements and essential elements in the state of North Carolina, USA using accelerated microwave assisted acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The figures-of-merit of the ICP-OES were appropriate for elemental analysis in scalp hair with detection limits as low as 0.0001 mg/L for Cd, good linearity (R2 > 0.9978), and percent recoveries that ranged from 96 to 106% for laboratory-fortified-blanks and 88–112% for sample spike recovery study. The concentrations of essential elements in scalp hair were larger than those of toxic elements, with Ca having the highest average concentration (3080 μg/g, s = 14,500, n = 194). Some of the maximum concentrations observed for As (65 μg/g), Ni (331 μg/g), Cd (2.96 μg/g), and Cr (84.6 μg/g) in individual samples were concerning, however. Samples were statistically analyzed to determine the influence of race, gender, smoking habits, or age on the elemental concentrations in scalp hair. Higher concentrations of essential elements were observed in the scalp hair of Caucasians, females, and non-smokers, and the differences were often significant at a 90% confidence level. Several pairs of essential elements, for example Ca-K, Ca-Mg, and Ca-Zn, were strongly correlated in Caucasian hair but uncorrelated in African-American hair. Similarly, essential elements were strongly correlated in female hair but weakly correlated in male hair. Toxic element pairs (As-Cd, As-Se, Pb-As, and Se-Cd) were strongly correlated in the hair of smokers but uncorrelated in that of non-smokers, suggesting that cigarette smoke is a common source of toxic elements in humans.