TITLE:
Clinical and Biochemical Evaluation of Facial Acanthosis Nigricans
AUTHORS:
Khalifa E. Sharquie, Adil A. Noaimi, Halla G. Mahmood, Sameerah M. Al-Ogaily
KEYWORDS:
Acanthosis Nigricans, Face, Sharquie’s Ansi Scoring, Facial Melanosis, Biochemical Changes
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications,
Vol.5 No.3,
September
14,
2015
ABSTRACT: Background: Acanthosis nigricans is a well known cause of facial
melanosis in Iraqi males and usually it is a part of ordinary acanthosis
nigricans. It is commonly associated with many metabolic derangements. Objectives:
To evaluate cases of acanthosis nigricans of the face for all metabolic
disturbances including fasting blood sugar, fasting serum insulin, total
cholesterol, triglyceride, growth hormone and serum leptin. Patients and
Methods: Twenty seven cases of acanthosis nigricans of the face were included
in this case descriptive, clinical and biochemical study. This was conducted in
Department of Dermatology-Baghdad Teaching Hospital and Department of Clinical
Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Baghdad, Iraq during the period from
November 2012-August 2014. It consisted of 26 males and one female, their ages
ranged from 16 - 58 (39 ± 4.9) years. The diagnosis was established by clinical
and histopathological evaluation. Sharquie’s ANSI scoring of acanthosis
nigricans of face was carried out for all patients, also body mass index was
assessed. Biochemical evaluation was carried out for all patients including
total cholesterol, triglyceride, fasting blood sugar and insulin, insulin
resistance, growth hormone and leptin enzyme immunoassay. Twenty seven healthy
control non obese individuals with comparable ages and gender were assessed for
all tests. Results: Biochemical results showed that fasting blood glucose,
fasting serum insulin, insulin resistance, fasting serum triglyceride, total
cholesterol, growth hormone and serum leptin were statistically significantly
high in patients with acanthosis nigricans of the face in comparison with
control individuals and all were positively correlated with the scoring of
acanthosis nigricans of the face apart from high density lipoprotein was negatively
correlated. Conclusion: Acanthosis nigricans of the face is a good marker for
the associated metabolic diseases and these metabolic changes were
statistically significantly correlated with the severity of acanthosis
nigricans.