What is Dandruff Composed Of?

Tired of scratching your hair and being bothered by white flakes? Let’s look at the composition of what’s on your scalp.

Dandruff is a widespread scalp ailment that affects over half of the pre-pubertal population of any gender or ethnicity. No population in any geographical region has not been affected by dandruff at some point in their lives. The term dandruff is of Anglo-Saxon origin, derived from the words ‘tan’ meaning ‘tetter’ and ‘drof’ meaning ‘filthy.’ Dandruff has an aesthetic impact and frequently irritates. Keratinocytes are well known for their role in the expression and development of immune reactions during dandruff creation. The intensity of dandruff may vary by season since it frequently worsens in the winter.

Cause of Dandruff

Dandruff is caused by a variety of factors, including dry skin, sensitivity to hair products, and skin disorders including seborrheic dermatitis or eczema. Dandruff can also be caused by an overgrowth of a yeast-like fungus. Stress, hormones, too much oil on the scalp, or immune system issues can all contribute to this overgrowth.

Simple dry skin, especially in the chilly, dry winter months, is the most frequent cause of dandruff. The flakes are typically smaller and less greasy than those brought on by other disorders when your dandruff is connected to dry skin.

Composition of Dandruff

A cluster of corneocytes that have maintained a high level of cohesiveness with one another and separate as such from the surface of the stratum corneum make up a dandruff scale. Diverse scale sizes and populations can be found at different locations and over time. Part of dandruff frequently consists of parakeratotic cells. The intensity of the clinical signs, which may also be influenced by seborrhea, is correlated with their numbers.

Part of Corneocytes in Dandruff

The distribution of Malassezia on the skin’s surface and within the stratum corneum varies in both seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. Some corneocytes exhibit clumpy adherence of the yeast, but other corneocytes in the surrounding area only contain a small amount of this yeast. Corneocytes are thought to have a different Malassezia binding site. The natural antifungal peptides of innate immunity to the aforementioned reason is another hypothesis. The colonization of the yeast increases keratinocytes’ expression of -defensin-2. In dandruff, their expression may be compromised in specific areas where Malassezia is more prevalent. Malassezia is known to have antigenic and pro-inflammatory qualities that stimulate both the innate and acquired immune systems as well as the neuroimmune sensory response. The immunological reaction is unaffected by dandruff.

There is still some controversy over the Malassezia-corneocyte theory. It doesn’t explain why low-grade scaling (2–5 mg/cm scalp/2 days) with a low parakeratotic index continues even after the dandruff has cleared up and Malassezia is virtually gone. It is hypothesized that the antifungal drugs may be unable to eliminate deep-seated yeasts, allowing a minimal inflammatory response to be maintained, or that the anti-inflammatory efficacy claimed by the antidandruff agents is insufficient in vivo. The therapeutic agents may also be responsible for unfavorable reactions, such as irritating dermatitis or contact allergic dermatitis.

Researchers are learning that Malassezia interacts with our immune system via oxylipins, which are little, oily molecules that influence inflammation. If they can figure out how to decrease proinflammatory oxylipins while promoting pro-anti-inflammatory ones, they may be able to develop revolutionary medications. Researchers are also investigating whether our interactions with Malassezia are beneficial. They argue that dandruff, while irritating and ugly for humans, provides yeast with a continuous source of fatty food. Dandruff, on the other hand, is not contagious and presents no threat to our health. Malassezia also appears to be particularly adept at protecting its domain, our skin, from other, more harmful organisms such as Staphylococcus aureus. So, even though experts have addressed many of the fundamental mysteries, dandruff remains a mystery.

Currently, the most effective technique to get rid of dandruff is to destroy Malassezia directly on the scalp with antifungals contained in products such as shampoos. When a person has dandruff, it usually comes and goes as a result of hormonal changes. Even though Malassezia colonizes everyone to a comparable degree, not everyone develops dandruff.

Wrapping Up

So as we have come to the end of this article, we hope you have got a few insights about the composition of Dandruff which you feel is a real problem. Dandruff doesn’t necessarily indicate that you have unclean hair, but a flaky scalp could be brought on by your hairstyle or the items you use. Dandruff is harmless, even though having it might be embarrassing. It does not imply that you are unclean. You cannot catch it from someone else or spread it to them.