FASEB gets to the root of grey hair

Researchers reporting in the The FASEB Journal (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) have found a topical application that can restore pigment to both grey hair and vitiligo affected skin.

The researchers were building on a study from 2009, which indicated that greying is caused by oxidative stress caused by the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide in the hair follicle, which effectively causes the hair to bleach itself from the inside out. Of chief interest in the latest study is the fact that researchers were able to reverse the problem by applying a topical, UVB activated compound, PC-KUS, which is a modified pseudocatalase.

“The sudden loss of inherited skin and localised hair colour can affect individuals in many fundamental ways,” said Karin Schallreuter of the Institute for Pigmentary Disorders and a co-author of the study, which was produced with EM Arndt University of Greifswald, Germany, and the Centre for Skin Sciences at the University of Bradford. “For generations, numerous remedies have been concocted to hide grey hair,” said Gerald Weissmann, Editor In Chief of The FASEB Journal, which published the research. “But now, for the first time, an actual treatment that gets to the root of the problem has been developed.”