Does hydrogen peroxide turn hair white?

Q: Will peroxide turn your hair gray?

Its been known for years that hair turns gray due to a natural buildup of hydrogen peroxide in hair follicles, which causes oxidative stress and graying. (Hydrogen peroxide solutions have been used for years as a cheap and easy way to go blonde.)

Wash away your gray? Maybe. A team of European scientists have finally solved a mystery that has perplexed humans throughout the ages: why we turn gray. Despite the notion that gray hair is a sign of wisdom, these researchers show in a research report published online in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) that wisdom has nothing to do with it. Going gray is caused by a massive build up of hydrogen peroxide due to wear and tear of our hair follicles. The peroxide winds up blocking the normal synthesis of melanin, our hair's natural pigment.

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Researchers from Mainz and Bradford discover the molecular mechanism for hair turning white and gray in old age
Does hydrogen peroxide make your hair white?
What does peroxide do to white hair?
Will peroxide turn your hair gray?
What color will hydrogen peroxide do to hair?

"Not only blondes change their hair color with hydrogen peroxide," said Gerald Weissmann, MD, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "All of our hair cells make a tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide, but as we get older, this little bit becomes a lot. We bleach our hair pigment from within, and our hair turns gray and then white. This research, however, is an important first step to get at the root of the problem, so to speak."

The researchers made this discovery by examining cell cultures of human hair follicles. They found that the build up of hydrogen peroxide was caused by a reduction of an enzyme that breaks up hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen (catalase). They also discovered that hair follicles could not repair the damage caused by the hydrogen peroxide because of low levels of enzymes that normally serve this function (MSR A and B). Further complicating matters, the high levels of hydrogen peroxide and low levels of MSR A and B, disrupt the formation of an enzyme (tyrosinase) that leads to the production of melanin in hair follicles. Melanin is the pigment responsible for hair color, skin color, and eye color. The researchers speculate that a similar breakdown in the skin could be the root cause of vitiligo.

"As any blue-haired lady will attest, sometimes hair dyes don't quite work as anticipated," Weissmann added. "This study is a prime example of how basic research in biology can benefit us in ways never imagined."

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Research study details: J. M. Wood, H. Decker, H. Hartmann, B. Chavan, H. Rokos, J. D. Spencer, S. Hasse, M. J. Thornton, M. Shalbaf, R. Paus, and K. U. Schallreuter. Senile hair graying: H2O2-mediated oxidative stress affects human hair color by blunting methionine sulfoxide repair. FASEB J. doi:10.1096/fj.08-125435. http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/abstract/fj.08-125435v1

The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) is published by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and is the most cited journal worldwide according to the Institute for Scientific Information. FASEB comprises 22 nonprofit societies with more than 80,000 members, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the United States. FASEB advances biological science through collaborative advocacy for research policies that promote scientific progress and education and lead to improvements in human health.

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The FASEB Journal

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Researchers from Mainz and Bradford discover the molecular mechanism for hair turning white and gray in old age

03.03.2009

Gray or white hair develops with advancing age in an entirely natural aging process which results in the generation of less and less color pigments. Researchers of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz in Germany und the University of Bradford in Great Britain have now unlocked the secret of hair turning white or gray in old age. According to them, free oxygen radicals are significantly involved in the loss of hair color. "The originator of the entire process is hydrogen peroxide, which we also know as a bleaching agent," explains Professor Heinz Decker of the Institute of Biophysics at Mainz University. “With advancing age, hydrogen peroxide builds up in larger amounts in the hair follicle and ultimately inhibits the synthesis of the color pigment melanin.” The biophysicists in Mainz together with dermatologists from Bradford have revealed the molecular mechanisms of this process for the first time, and they published their findings in the professional journal The FASEB Journal.

Hydrogen peroxide - or H2O2 by its the chemical formula - is a by-product of metabolism, and as such it is generated in small amounts throughout the human body, consequently also in hair follicles. With increasing age, the quantity builds up, because the human body can no longer keep up neutralizing the hydrogen peroxide using the enzyme catalyse, which breaks down hydrogen peroxide into its two components water and oxygen. In their work, the scientists showed that in aging cells this enzyme is still present but in very limited concentration. This has dramatic consequences. Hydrogen peroxide attacks the enzyme tyrosinase by oxidizing an amino acid, methionine, at the active site. As a consequence, this key enzyme, which normally starts the synthesizing pathway of the coloring pigment melanin, does not function anymore. "We now know the specific molecular dynamic that underlies this process," elucidates Decker. The scientists at the Institute of Biophysics at Mainz University have been working for about ten years already on research concerning tyrosinases, which are enzymes present in all organisms and performing a variety of functions. In computer simulations that helped to reveal the molecular mechanisms, the biophysicists were supported by the newly established Research Unit Computer-based Research Methods in the Natural Sciences at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

Oxidation by hydrogen peroxide not only interferes with the production of melanin, but also inhibits other enzymes that are needed for the repair of damaged proteins. As a result, a cascade of events is set off, at the end of which stands the gradual loss of pigments in the entire hair from its root to its tip. With this research work, the scientists from Mainz and Bradford not only solved - on a molecular level - the age-old riddle of why hair turns gray in old age, but also have pointed out approaches for future therapy of vitiligo, a skin pigment disorder. For melanin is not only the pigment in hair, but it is also responsible for color in skin and eyes.

The researchers in Mainz were supported by the Collaborative Research Center 490 "Mechanisms of Invasion and Persistence of Infectious Agents", and the Research Training Group 1043 "Antigen-specific Immunotherapy", both funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Does hydrogen peroxide make your hair white?

Hydrogen peroxide to lighten hair This is because hydrogen peroxide works in the hair cortex, the innermost part of the hair that holds the pigment that gives hair its color. Hydrogen-peroxide-based dyes alone can help take your hair to a light blonde color.

What does peroxide do to white hair?

Hydrogen peroxide attacks the enzyme tyrosinase by oxidizing an amino acid, methionine, at the active site. As a consequence, this key enzyme, which normally starts the synthesizing pathway of the coloring pigment melanin, does not function anymore.

Will peroxide turn your hair gray?

It's been known for years that hair turns gray due to a natural buildup of hydrogen peroxide in hair follicles, which causes oxidative stress and graying. (Hydrogen peroxide solutions have been used for years as a cheap and easy way to "go blonde.")

What color will hydrogen peroxide do to hair?

If you want to get a light blonde color, you should only apply hair dyes that contain hydrogen peroxide. People often apply the dyes containing hydrogen peroxide to turn dark brown hair into red. You can also use these dyes before applying another color of dye if you want a lighter color.

hydrogen peroxide turn hair white