Effect of procyandin oligomers on oxidative hair damage.

BACKGROUND: Procyanidins are a subclass of flavonoids and consist of oligomers of catechin that naturally occur in plants and are known to exert many physiological effects, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and enzyme inhibitory effects. These possible inhibitory effects of the procyanidins were known to involve metal chelation, radical trapping, or direct enzyme binding.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of procyandin oligomers on hair damage induced by oxidative stress.

RESULTS: In this study, several methods for evaluating oxidative damage in bleached hair are utilized to analyze the protective effect of procyandin oligomers against oxidative hair damage. It was observed that procyanidin oligomers strongly bind to keratin in hair and inhibit the breakdown of hair caused by oxidative damage in an analysis of hair using electrophoresis, transmission electron microscope, and fluorescence dye.

CONCLUSION: These results confirm that procyanidin oligomers can be applicable as a potential candidate to the development of hair care with protective effect on hair damage.