Cutaneous dyschromia in three cases of phenylketonuria. Quantitative ultrastructural study of the basal layer of the epidermis
Bechelli, L.M.; Gonçalves, R.P.; Tanaka, A.M.; Pagnano, P.M.
Annales de Dermatologie et de Venereologie 105(2): 165-173
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0151-9638 PMID: 677685 Document Number: 130921
The authors have studied skin color modifications in 3 cases of phenylketonuria and have observed the characteristic changes; fair skin and fair hair. In addition they noted hundred of pigmented pin point or slightly larger patches in the two more affected patients, in the areas exposed to sunshine. With regard to the ultrastructural study of the epidermis basal layer, the proportion of melanocytes in the two most severe cases was slightly higher than in the normal skin of 6 control subjects. Langerhans cells could not be acertained. The more severe was the disease the greater was the tendency for a lower proportion of keratinocytes containing melanin. There is a certain parallelism between the skin color modifications the biochemical examinations (blood level of phenylalanin and tyrosine) and the ultrastructural changes. The higher the blood level of phenlalanine and/or the more pronounced the disorders of skin color, the more evident would be the ultrastructural changes: higher proportion of melanocytes that usually do not produce the melanosomes, and lower percentage of keratinocytes with melanin. On the other hand, the ultrastructure of the basal layer would suggest the seriousness of clinical manifestations and/or the intesity of the metabolic error.