Original Paper
Relationships between Skin Melanin Levels and Depression in Students
2019 Volume 59 Issue 1 Pages 52-59
Details
2019 Volume 59 Issue 1 Pages 52-59
Background : The skin color is made up of two melanin pigments in the Japanese. One melanin is eumelanin (brown/black) and the other is pheomelanin (yellow/pink). Among them, antioxidants such as glutathione are required for the production of pheomelanin. People develop oxidative stress in the body when exposed to stress. Antioxidants decrease by reducing oxidative stress. The cause of the skin pigmentation is derived from the reduction of pheomelanin due to the reduction of antioxidants. That is, stress is one of the causes of pigmentation of the skin.
Objective : The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between depression and darkening of the skin during daily life.
Methods : We measured the melanin level and depression degree of skin of healthy student volunteers and examined the relationship between the two of them. SDS (self-rating depression scale) was used for depression measurement and Megzameter was used for melanin measurement of the medial upper arm skin.
Results : The depression score was 24 to 63 (average 40±8 points). We divided the depression score into the high group and the low group and compared the melanin levels. As a result, melanin level was significantly higher in the group with high depression score (p<0.001). On the contrary when the melanin level (average 113±35) was divided into the high group and the low group, the depression score was significantly higher in the high group (p<0.0001).
Conclusion : Depressions induce oxidative stress. Increased oxidative stress substances consume antioxidants. As a result, the production amount of pheomelanin decreases. We consider that skin pigmentation occurs as a result of higher eumelanin/pheomelanin ratio.
