Skin Pigmentation News and Research

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The color of the human skin is due to a brown pigment called melanin. Pigmentation or coloration of the skin is dependent on the amount of melanin present in the skin. People with pale skin produce very little melanin and people with darker skin produce higher amounts of melanin. Pregnancy and sun exposure can also make skin darker, while infections, burns, and blisters can make skin lighter.

Migration from high sunlight to low sunlight regions is linked to vitamin D deficiency

A new study in the Oxford Economic Papers finds that migration flows the last 500 years from high sunlight regions to low sunlight regions influence contemporary health outcomes in destination countries.

7 Jan 2021

The evolving role of platelet-rich plasma in cosmetic procedures

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment, which involves injecting a small amount of a patient's own blood to release various growth factors from platelets, continues to increase in popularity.

28 Dec 2020

Mothers' vitamin D levels during pregnancy positively associated with their children's IQ

Vitamin D is a critical nutrient and has many important functions in the body. A mother's vitamin D supply is passed to her baby in utero and helps regulate processes including brain development.

2 Nov 2020

New insights into human genetics

Who are we? Where did we come from? How did we get here? Throughout the ages, humans have sought answers to these questions, pursuing wisdom through religion, philosophy, and eventually science.

19 Sep 2020

Low levels of vitamin D can increase susceptibility to COVID-19 infection

A new study has found an association between low average levels of vitamin D and high numbers of COVID-19 cases and mortality rates across 20 European countries.

7 May 2020

College athletes participating in indoor sports at risk of vitamin D deficiency

College athletes participating in indoor sports, especially African-Americans, might be vitamin D deficient and put themselves at risk of injury or poor performance according to a study recently published in the journal Nutrients.

10 Mar 2020

IU researcher identifies new genomic regions that increase skin cancer risk

An Indiana University cancer researcher has identified eight new genomic regions that increase a person's risk for skin cancer.

18 Feb 2020

Skin-lightening cream put a woman into a coma. It could happen again.

She had been buying face cream through a friend of a friend for 12 years. This time, it was Pond's "Rejuveness," a version of the company's anti-wrinkle cream that is made and sold in Mexico.

1 Oct 2019

UV radiation exposure: Sun protection is important as athletes have elevated skin cancer risk

The dangers of ultraviolet radiation exposure, which most often comes from the sun, are well-known. Speaking at The Physiological Society's Extreme Environmental Physiology conference next week, W. Larry Kenney, Penn State University, will discuss how broad its effects can be, from premature aging to cancer, and how this can be influenced by different skin tones and the use of sunscreen.

30 Aug 2019

Genetic testing motivates behavior changes in people at risk for melanoma, finds study

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, and melanoma is the most severe type of skin cancer.

3 Aug 2019

Topical cream found to be effective in reversing the effects of vitiligo

A nationwide phase II clinical trial, coordinated out of Tufts Medical Center in Boston, has found that a topical cream was extremely effective in reversing the effects of vitiligo, a relatively common autoimmune disease that causes loss of skin pigmentation.

17 Jun 2019

UAMS-developed noninvasive device detects melanoma in earliest stages

A University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences research team led by Vladimir Zharov, Ph.D., D.Sc., has demonstrated the ability to detect and kill circulating tumor cells in the blood using a noninvasive device called Cytophone that integrates a laser, ultrasound and phone technologies.

13 Jun 2019

A member of light-sensitive protein family plays role in adjusting skin color

A team of Brown University researchers found that opsin 3 -- a protein closely related to rhodopsin, the protein that enables low-light vision -- has a role in adjusting the amount of pigment produced in human skin, a determinant of skin color.

18 May 2019

Vitamin D may be protective among asthmatic obese children, finds study

A new study finds vitamin D may be protective among asthmatic obese children living in urban environments with high indoor air pollution.

9 Mar 2019

Tel Aviv University researchers uncover biological ultraviolet protection 'timer'

Scientists at Tel Aviv University have discovered a critical 48-hour cycle that is responsible for synchronizing the biological mechanisms that protect our skin from sun damage.

26 Oct 2018

EMA grants orphan designation to selumetinib for treatment of neurofibromatosis type 1

AstraZeneca and Merck, known as MSD outside the U.S. and Canada, today announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted orphan designation to selumetinib, a MEK 1/2 inhibitor, for the treatment of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).

3 Aug 2018

Regular sunscreen use protects young people from melanoma

A world-first study led by University of Sydney has found that Australians aged 18-40 years who were regular users of sunscreen in childhood reduced their risk of developing melanoma by 40 percent, compared to those who rarely used sunscreen.

19 Jul 2018

Urgent steps needed to tackle low vitamin D intakes in UK South-Asians

Public health strategies are urgently required to tackle low intakes of vitamin D in the UK South-Asian population, finds a new study in the Journal Public Health Nutrition.

25 Jun 2018

Genes that determine skin color studied - new revelations

Human populations vary vastly in skin tones. European populations have been studied and some of the genes that determine skin color have been found. A latest study in a varied African population has found the specific and new genetic variants that could determine skin color and skin pigmentation. The study report is published in the journal Science.

16 Oct 2017

Researchers find mechanism that explains differences in skin’s responsiveness to heat, mechanical stimuli

Researchers at the Bluestone Center for Clinical Research at the New York University College of Dentistry (NYU Dentistry) have identified a novel molecular mechanism which explains why dark-skinned and light-skinned people respond differently to heat and mechanical stimulation.

6 Sep 2017