Skip to main content
PMC home page
Postgraduate Medical Journal logoLink to Postgraduate Medical Journal
. 2005 Aug;81(958):541–544. doi: 10.1136/pgmj.2004.028308

Acanthosis nigricans: relation with type 2 diabetes mellitus, anthropometric variables, and body mass in Indians

N Grandhe 1, A Bhansali 1, S Dogra 1, B Kumar 1
PMCID: PMC1743331  PMID: 16085750

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of acanthosis nigricans (AN) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its correlation with various anthropometric measurements in Indians.

Methods: One hundred and fifty consecutive subjects with T2DM attending the diabetes clinic at a tertiary referral centre in North India were considered as cases and 150 age and sex matched healthy attendants of non-diabetic subjects as controls. All the cases and controls were screened for the presence of AN and its severity. Anthropometric measurements of all of them were measured in standard method. Regression analysis was done to determine the association of AN with T2DM and various anthropometric measurements.

Results: The prevalence of AN in subjects with diabetes and healthy controls was 62.6% and 40% respectively, and this difference was significant (p<0.05). Body mass index (BMI) between cases and controls was comparable by chance. There was a statistically significant correlation of increasing severity of AN with increasing BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-hip ratio, skinfold thickness, and body fat percentage in diabetic patients. However, in regression analysis after considering all the confounding factors there was a significant correlation of AN, only with diabetes mellitus and BMI.

Conclusions: Indians have high prevalence of AN and it is an independent cutaneous marker of both T2DM and BMI.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (117.0 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Banerji M. A., Faridi N., Atluri R., Chaiken R. L., Lebovitz H. E. Body composition, visceral fat, leptin, and insulin resistance in Asian Indian men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1999 Jan;84(1):137–144. doi: 10.1210/jcem.84.1.5371. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burke J. P., Hale D. E., Hazuda H. P., Stern M. P. A quantitative scale of acanthosis nigricans. Diabetes Care. 1999 Oct;22(10):1655–1659. doi: 10.2337/diacare.22.10.1655. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Coates P., Shuttleworth D., Rees A. Resolution of nicotinic acid-induced acanthosis nigricans by substitution of an analogue (acipimox) in a patient with type V hyperlipidaemia. Br J Dermatol. 1992 Apr;126(4):412–414. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2133.1992.tb00692.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Curth H. O. Letter: Acanthosis nigricans following use of oral contraceptives. Arch Dermatol. 1975 Aug;111(8):1069–1069. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gilkison C., Stuart C. A. Assessment of patients with acanthosis nigricans skin lesion for hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance and diabetes risk. Nurse Pract. 1992 Feb;17(2):26–passim. doi: 10.1097/00006205-199202000-00013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hirschler Valeria, Aranda Claudio, Oneto Adriana, Gonzalez Claudio, Jadzinsky Mauricio. Is acanthosis nigricans a marker of insulin resistance in obese children? Diabetes Care. 2002 Dec;25(12):2353–2353. doi: 10.2337/diacare.25.12.2353. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hud J. A., Jr, Cohen J. B., Wagner J. M., Cruz P. D., Jr Prevalence and significance of acanthosis nigricans in an adult obese population. Arch Dermatol. 1992 Jul;128(7):941–944. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. King H., Aubert R. E., Herman W. H. Global burden of diabetes, 1995-2025: prevalence, numerical estimates, and projections. Diabetes Care. 1998 Sep;21(9):1414–1431. doi: 10.2337/diacare.21.9.1414. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Snehalatha Chamukuttan, Viswanathan Vijay, Ramachandran Ambady. Cutoff values for normal anthropometric variables in asian Indian adults. Diabetes Care. 2003 May;26(5):1380–1384. doi: 10.2337/diacare.26.5.1380. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Stals H., Vercammen C., Peeters C., Morren M. A. Acanthosis nigricans caused by nicotinic acid: case report and review of the literature. Dermatology. 1994;189(2):203–206. doi: 10.1159/000246834. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Stuart C. A., Gilkison C. R., Smith M. M., Bosma A. M., Keenan B. S., Nagamani M. Acanthosis nigricans as a risk factor for non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Clin Pediatr (Phila) 1998 Feb;37(2):73–79. doi: 10.1177/000992289803700203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Stuart C. A., Pate C. J., Peters E. J. Prevalence of acanthosis nigricans in an unselected population. Am J Med. 1989 Sep;87(3):269–272. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9343(89)80149-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Stuart C. A., Smith M. M., Gilkison C. R., Shaheb S., Stahn R. M. Acanthosis Nigricans among Native Americans: an indicator of high diabetes risk. Am J Public Health. 1994 Nov;84(11):1839–1842. doi: 10.2105/ajph.84.11.1839. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. TROMOVITCH T. A., JACOBS P. H., KERN S. ACANTHOSIS NIGRICANS-LIKE LESIONS FROM NICOTINIC ACID. Arch Dermatol. 1964 Feb;89:222–223. doi: 10.1001/archderm.1964.01590260060010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Teknetzis A., Lefaki I., Joannides D., Minas A. Acanthosis nigricans-like lesions after local application of fusidic acid. J Am Acad Dermatol. 1993 Mar;28(3):501–502. doi: 10.1016/s0190-9622(08)81767-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Postgraduate Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES