Method for Chronological Recording of Antigen Appearance in Human Head-Hair Shafts and Its Use for Monitoring Glycation Products in Diabetes

March 2007 in “ Journal of immunological methods ”

J. Nissimov, Uriel Elchalal, Hilaire Bakala, Michael Brownlee, Elliot M. Berry, Moshe Phillip, Yoram Milner

TLDR The method can help diagnose and monitor diabetes by analyzing hair.

The study described a method for chronologically recording antigen appearance in human head-hair shafts to monitor glycation products, which are markers of hyperglycemia useful for diabetes monitoring. The researchers used a "dot-block" in-situ method to detect early glycation adducts (EGAs) and advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) along hair shafts of diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. This method allowed for dynamic and detailed analysis of glycation products along the entire length of hair fibers at intervals as close as 0.5 cm. The findings indicated that hair shafts could serve as a non-invasive, chronological record of glycation, providing valuable insights into the medical history and disease progression in individuals.

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