FINE STRUCTURE OF HUMAN HAIR .3. HAIRPIGMENT

There are significant morphological differences between human hair pigment granules and human skin pigment granules. The melanin granules of hair are distinguished by their large size, the absence of melanosome-complexes and sometimes by their extracellular localization. Moreover, pigment granules of hair show two different types of granules characteristic for black or blond hairs: Black hairs contain large (ca. 0.35×1.0 μm), oval shaped granules with homogenous internal structure (Type A, Eumelanin). Blond hairs contain smaller (ca. 0.2×0.7 μm), long shaped granules with layered internal structure (Type B, Phaeomelanin). Hair color (black or blond) depends on the type of granules present. Color intensity (brown, brownish, darkblond, lightblond etc.) however, depends on the quantity of granules in each hair. There are some similarities between the immature forms of black pigment granules described by several authors and the mature pigment granules of blond hair described in this work. But it seems unlikely that the pigment of blond hair is only an immature form of black hair pigment. © 1968 Springer-Verlag.