Skin Pigmentation and Anatomy

Questions and Answers

Fibro-osseous lesions in more than one bone

Inflammation or injury

Multiple light brown skin spots

Neurofibromatosis Type I Signup and view all the answers

Light brown color Signup and view all the answers

Neurofibromatosis Type I Signup and view all the answers

All of the above Signup and view all the answers

Smoker's Melanosis Signup and view all the answers

To protect against the harmful effects of actinic radiation Signup and view all the answers

Melanotic pigmentation Signup and view all the answers

Smoker's melanosis Signup and view all the answers

Melasma Signup and view all the answers

They have no premalignant potential Signup and view all the answers

They may induce macules of oral melanosis Signup and view all the answers

The number of melanocytes is the same in both Signup and view all the answers

It may remain for few months after withdrawal of the causative drug Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

The mal pink color of the mucosa is due to light passing through the translucent epithelium, striking the capillary bed in the connective tissue, and reflecting back.
Melanocytes reside in the basal cell layer and produce melanin in melanosomes, which is then transferred to keratinocytes to protect their nuclei from actinic radiation.

Caused by increased melanin production, which can be classified into two categories: diffuse/multifocal and focal.

Can be physiologic (racial) and occurs in dark-skinned individuals, resulting in brown macules on the facial gingiva, lingual gingiva, and tongue.
Can be caused by smoking, leading to smoker's melanosis, which is characterized by small, bilateral, and brown macules on the buccal mucosa.
Can be drug-induced, resulting in macules of oral melanosis that may be diffuse, localized, or multifocal.
Examples of drugs that can cause drug-induced melanosis include antimalarials, oral contraceptives, and certain medications used to treat autoimmune diseases.

Can be a symptom of certain genetic diseases, such as café-au-lait spots.
Café-au-lait spots are characteristic of McCune-Albright Syndrome and Neurofibromatosis Type I.

Occurs in areas that have been subjected to previous injury or inflammation.
Can occur in conjunction with oral lichen planus and oral lichenoid lesions, and may subside after resolution of the lesions.

Can affect melanin production, as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) have a direct stimulatory action on melanocytes.
Cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal gland, has a normal function in regulating melanin production.