What is melanin pigment?

Melanin pigment, or simply melanin, is a compound of dark brown to black pigmentation, which can be found in several parts of the body of humans and animals. It is most often associated with skin color, although the eyes and hair also contain melanin. It is produced by the class of pigment cells called melanocytes, which are located in the lower layer of the outer layer of the skin known as an epidermis. When melanocytes create a melanin pigment, a process called melanogenesis, it creates a color that is permanent. People who have limited or absolutely no melanin are developing a state called Albinism. Everyone, regardless of race or ethnicity, has more or less the same number of melanocytes. Melanin pigment is considered a derivative of tyrosine, an amino acid that cells use for protein synthesis.

t> The two main types of melanin pigment are eumelanine and feomelanine. The chap more of these two, Eumelanin, is a pigment that is located in darker people. Is also responsible for coloring hair black, brown, gray and yellow as well as areoLa, a darker circular area surrounding every nipple of the breast. Pheomelanin is more closely associated with fairer people. He is responsible for giving the hair a color that roughly extends from red to yellow, so it is more common in individuals with red -haired hair.

In addition to melanogenesis, the melanin pigment can be produced by DNA damage by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This process is most often induced by sunbathing, which includes darkening of the skin, usually ultraviolet rays of the sun or solarium. However, this type of melanin production, unlike melanogenesis, does not cause permanent pigmentation.

Melanv pigment acts as a photoprotectant, which means that it reduces the amount of damage that UV radiation causes the skin. Eumelanin is a much better photoprotectant than feomelanine, which is at a higher risk of becoming a carcinogen or a reagent causing skin cancer. Higher concentration of melanin, however, even KD and KDy, they limit the exposure to sunlight, deprives the skin to make the agent needed to produce vitamin D.

The same logic applies to the eyes. Melanin, which turns the iris - a thin circular structure that regulates the amount of light that goes on the retina - protects it from potentially harmful rays of the sun. People with lighter colored spices are at greater risk.