Eumelanin is a major determinant for 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) incorporation into hair of mice.

Mice with different hair pigmentation were studied to evaluate the role of melanin in the incorporation of 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP) into hair. Mice C57BL/6J-c2j/+ (white), C57BL/6J-Ay (yellow), C57L/J (grey), C57BR/cdJ (brown) and C57BL/6J (black) were dosed with PhIP: 7-9 days old (total amount: 0.006 or 0.58 mg/kg b.wt., for 4 days) and adults (total amount 50 mg/kg b.wt. during 8 weeks). Hair was collected either 30 days after the last PhIP administration (new-born mice) or 8 weeks after the first administration (adult mice). PhIP was incorporated into black hair to a greater extent than into brown, grey, yellow and non-pigmented hair. The concentration of PhIP in the hair of new-born mice exposed to 0.58 mg PhIP/kg b.wt. were (mean+/-S.D.): 328+/-135 (black), 134+/-41 (brown), 9.1+/-1.2 (yellow) and 5.2+/-1.4 (white) ng/g hair. The PhIP concentrations in the hair of adult mice exposed to 50 mg/kg b.wt. were: 4750+/-1449 (black), 810+/-235 (brown), 541+/-119 (grey), 35.5+/-4.6 (yellow) and 21.6+/-8.8 (white) ng/g, and the eumelanin hair concentration in the same animals decreased in a similar pattern. A linear relationship (r2= 1.00, P<0.0001) between the relative PhIP incorporation and the eumelanin concentration in hair was found.