Cutaneous pigmentation in patients with chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis

—II. Quantitative analysis of skin lightness and its correlation with age, duration of dialytic treatment, and basic diseases—

Abstract

Skin lightness was quantitatively determined in 100 patients with chronic renal failure (55 chronic nephritis and 45 diabetic nephropathy) on maintenance hemodialysis and 137 non-dialytic patients, using a spectrophotometer, CR-400^® (Konica Minolta). Skin lightness decreased significantly in hemodialytic patients (p<0.01), and the decrease correlated with the duration of maintenance hemodialytic treatment (p<0.01), while there was no significant correlation with patient age. Skin lightness in patients with diabetic nephropathy was significantly higher than that in patients with chronic nephritis (p=0.0005). The skin pigmentation was significantly more prominent in patients with chronic nephritis than in patients with diabetic nephropathy remains obscure, however a possible stimulatory effect of insulin on the metabolism of MSH was considered.