Department of Dermatology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Biol Trace Elem Res. 2012 Apr;146(1):30-4. doi: 10.1007/s12011-011-9223-6. Epub 2011 Oct 7.
Premature graying of hair with unclear etiology, which is known as premature canities, is a common cause of referrals to the dermatologists. We assessed the relationship between serum iron, copper, and zinc concentrations with premature canities. This study was conducted on patients under 20 years old suffering from premature canities, having a minimum of ten gray hair fibers, and referring to university hospitals of Isfahan (Iran). The results were compared with age-sex-matched controls. Demographic data and disease characteristics were recorded for two groups. We studied serum iron, copper, and zinc concentrations of 66 patients and 66 controls using atomic absorption and Ferrozine methods. The mean age of studied cases was 17.8 ± 2.0 years, and the mean age of the onset of canities was 15.5 ± 3.2 years with no significant difference between males and females (P > 0.05). Serum copper concentration was significantly lower in patients compared with controls (90.7 ± 37.4 vs. 105.3 ± 50.2 μg/dL, P = 0.048), but serum iron concentration was significantly lower in controls compared to patients (88.8 ± 39.5 vs. 108.3 ± 48.4 μg/dL, P = 0.008). Also, there was no significant difference between patients and controls in serum zinc concentration (114.8 ± 67.8 vs. 108.2 ± 49.9 μg/dL, P = 0.285). According to these results, among copper, zinc, and iron, a low serum copper concentration may play a role in premature graying of hairs in our society. Further studies are needed to find the underlying mechanism of this relationship.
病因不明的早发性白发，即早发性灰发，是皮肤科就诊的常见原因。我们评估了血清铁、铜和锌浓度与早发性灰发的关系。这项研究是在伊朗伊斯法罕大学医院就诊的 20 岁以下早发性灰发患者中进行的，这些患者至少有 10 根灰色毛发纤维。结果与年龄、性别匹配的对照组进行了比较。两组均记录了人口统计学数据和疾病特征。我们使用原子吸收和 Ferrozine 方法研究了 66 例患者和 66 例对照者的血清铁、铜和锌浓度。研究病例的平均年龄为 17.8±2.0 岁，早发性灰发的平均发病年龄为 15.5±3.2 岁，男女之间无显著差异（P>0.05）。与对照组相比，患者的血清铜浓度显著降低（90.7±37.4 与 105.3±50.2μg/dL，P=0.048），而对照组的血清铁浓度显著低于患者（88.8±39.5 与 108.3±48.4μg/dL，P=0.008）。此外，患者和对照组的血清锌浓度无显著差异（114.8±67.8 与 108.2±49.9μg/dL，P=0.285）。根据这些结果，在铜、锌和铁中，低血清铜浓度可能在我们的社会中起作用，导致早发性白发。需要进一步研究以找到这种关系的潜在机制。
