PubMed Health⌕ Search

SEARCH · PubMed Health

Results for “PIGMENTATION”

Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Morphologic and clinical features of retrocorneal melanin pigmentation and pigmented pupillary membranes: review of 225 cases.

Observations based on clinical and histopathologic data from 200 consecutive cases of retrocorneal pigmentation by melanin-containing cells (RCP) and 25 cases of pigmented pupillary membranes (PPM) are reported. RCP was observed to be formed by four cell types, either alone or in combinations. The characteristic morphologic appearance of each cell type is described, and the significance and the predisposing factors for the various forms of RCP are outlined. RCP from endothelial-cell pigment phagocytosis, and in cases of resulting pigmented macrophages, was found to be a rather nonspecific reaction to release of pigment granules of iris pigment epithelium after surgical trauma, inflammation, and with the pigment dispersion syndrome. RCP from iris pigment epithelium was especially associated with anterior segment trauma with iris incarceration and peripheral anterior iris synechiae. This form was the least frequent. Most frequent in this series was RCP from iris stromal melanocytes. This seemed to be stimulated by surgical or accidental trauma and by corneal inflammation. Iris melanocytization of the anterior chamber angle and posterior corneal surface appeared to be related to the formation of retrocorneal fibrous tissue, the presence of anterior synechiae, and the development of secondary open-angle glaucoma. PPM are formed mostly by a combination of the pigmented cells of the iris. The predisposing conditions for formation of PPM were the same as for RCP. However, no correlation of implicated cell types and predisposing factors was detected. With these findings the importance of iris tissue, especially iris stromal melanocytes, in these basic reactions to anterior segment trauma or corneal inflammation is discussed.

Adolescent↗

Identification of Chromobacterium violaceum: pigmented and non-pigmented strains.

The classification and, therefore, identification of Chromobacterium violaceum has been based upon its ability to produce a violet pigment. Although the organism may yield non-pigmented variants when subcultured on artificial media, the isolation of non-pigmented strains from pathological tissues or from nature had not been reported. With a method established for the identification of C. violaceum regardless of violet pigmentation, non-pigmented strains were isolated from nature. The presence of non-pigmented strains of C. violaceum in nature is of significance to taxonomy and clinical bacteriology. Pigmentation cannot be held as an essential characteristic of the definition of the genus Chromobacterium and gives credence to the suspicion of Sneath (1960, 1966) that the genus is not a natural one. Non-pigmented strains may have been isolated from clinical material but wrongly identified as belonging to other genera of non-pigmented Gram-negative bacilli and regarded as not being pathogenic.

Animal Diseases↗

The oral pigmentation chart: a clinical adjunct for oral pigmentation in removable prostheses.

PURPOSE: Non-Caucasian patients exhibit different characteristics of oral pigmentation and may request that the acrylic resin parts of their dentures look natural, simulating the original mucosal color. Tooth loss, bone resorption, and lack of attached gingiva may, however, make it difficult to determine what the original pigmentation was like. The purpose of this investigation was to study the distribution in oral pigmentation around the natural dentition in non-Caucasians, in a preliminary effort to classify these variations into a chart of oral pigmentation, and to analyze its reproducibility. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For the study, 106 dentate non-Caucasians were selected from two universities: ACTA (patient group) and UCLA (nonpatient group). A pigmentation scheme was devised on the basis of half of the participants, and the others were divided into categories by four observers independently. Cohen's kappa was then calculated. RESULTS: On the basis of information obtained from the ACTA participants, six categories of mucosal pigmentation were defined. The kappa statistics for the four observers varied from .58 to .79 for intraobserver agreement and from .15 to .55 for interobserver agreement. CONCLUSION: The Oral Pigmentation Chart is a simple device that makes it possible to simulate oral pigmentation in the acrylic resin parts of removable dentures. The reproducibility appeared to be acceptable when clinician and dental technician were calibrated. Patients can be offered a choice of the kind of pigmentation geography they want in their removable prostheses.

Acrylic Resins↗

Pigment granule migration in isolated cells of the teleost retinal pigment epithelium.

In the teleost eye, the melanin granules of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) move in response to changes in light conditions. In the dark, pigment granules aggregate toward the cell base, and in the light, they disperse into long apical projections. Isolated RPE cells from the green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) were used to investigate the mechanism and regulation of pigment movement. Changing light conditions did not elicit pigment migration in isolated cells. However, pigment aggregation was induced by 3',5' cyclic-adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP), and forskolin (an adenylate cyclase activator). The effectiveness of forskolin suggests that an endogenous adenylate cyclase participates in regulating aggregation. Pigment dispersal was induced by the catecholamines epinephrine, phenylephrine, clonidine, dopamine, and apomorphine. Together the authors' studies suggest: that RPE cells contain the necessary motile machinery to support pigment granule transport in the absence of retina, but not the ability to respond to light; that elevating cAMP induces pigment aggregation; and that catecholamines induce dispersion by binding to receptors on the RPE cell. The authors' observations are consistent with previous suggestions that light regulation of RPE pigment migration is mediated by the retina.

Animals↗

Pigment cells and pigment cell tumors in fish.

The three basic pigment cell types found in poikilothermic vertebrates, melanocytes (melanin-producing cells), erythrophores (red or yellow pigment cells), and iridophores (iridescence-producing cells), are derived from neural crest. Neoplasms of pigment cells in fish are also of three phenotypes, melanomas (melanophoromas), erythrophoromas, and iridophoromas, showing the phenotypes of their corresponding normal pigment cells. These pigment cell tumors are among the most common types in bony fish and seem to be more common in fish than in mammals, including humans. Moreover, there are no mammalian neoplasms corresponding to erythrophoromas and iridophoromas in fish. The complexities in the nature and classification of pigment cell tumors in fish will be discussed on the basis of a survey of our collection of these tumors at the Cancer Institute. The etiology of pigment cell tumors in fish is obscure. In order to know whether activated oncogene is involved in the genesis of erythrophoromas in goldfish, the ras genes from normal and erythrophoroma cells were cloned and their nucleotide sequences were compared. The goldfish ras gene and human ras genes showed striking homology. However, no point mutation at the 12th codon was observed in ras genes isolated from erythrophoromas. Besides pigment cell tumors in fish, abnormal pigmentation or depigmentation in flounders associated with diseased conditions is also described.

Animals↗

In vivo epiluminescence microscopy of pigmented skin lesions. I. Pattern analysis of pigmented skin lesions.

The importance of recognizing early melanoma is generally accepted. Because not all pigmented skin lesions can be diagnosed correctly by their clinical appearance, additional criteria are required for the clinical diagnosis of such lesions. In vivo epiluminescence microscopy provides for a more detailed inspection of the surface of pigmented skin lesions, and, by using the oil immersion technic, which renders the epidermis translucent, opens a new dimension of skin morphology by including the dermoepidermal junction into the macroscopic evaluation of a lesion. In an epiluminescence microscopy study of more than 3000 pigmented skin lesions we have defined morphologic criteria that are not readily apparent to the naked eye but that are detected easily by epiluminescence microscopy and represent relatively reliable markers of benign and malignant pigmented skin lesions. These features include specific patterns, colors, and intensities of pigmentation, as well as the configuration, regularity, and other characteristics of both the margin and the surface of pigmented skin lesions. Pattern analysis of these features permits a distinction between different types of pigmented skin lesions and, in particular, between benign and malignant growth patterns. Epiluminescence microscopy is thus a valuable addition to the diagnostic armamentarium of pigmented skin lesions at a clinical level.

Basal Cell Carcinoma↗

Conditional inhibition of screening-pigment aggregation by lidocaine in crayfish photoreceptors and frog retinal pigment epithelium.

Lidocaine, at concentrations equal to or lower than those that inhibit fast axoplasmic transport, was found to interfere with the dark-adapting migration of the screening pigments along crayfish photoreceptors and within the cells of the frog retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The effects of the anesthetic on pigment movements were studied in isolated eyes incubated under light or dark conditions in media of different ionic compositions. Treatment of crayfish eyes with 25 mmol l-1 lidocaine in normal Van Harreveld's saline arrested pigment migration to the dark-adapted position or caused migration towards the light-adapted position in the dark. Similar results were obtained with frog eyecups exposed to 5 mmol l-1 lidocaine in Ringer's solution. In each case, the inhibition of dark adaptation was reversible and dependent on the levels of Na+ and Ca2+ in the incubation medium. A dark-adapted position of both pigments was compatible with lidocaine treatment provided that low-Na+, or high-Ca2+ or Co(2+)-containing solutions were used. These results indicate that light-adapted and dark-adapted pigment positions in both types of retinal cells can occur in the absence of local nervous input. Further, the data suggest a direct effect of lidocaine upon the photoreceptors or RPE cells. The inhibition of pigment aggregation is interpreted to be a consequence of an anesthetic-induced increase in the permeability of the plasma membrane, which in turn affects the intracellular ionic balance that controls pigment position.

Adaptation, Ocular↗

Retinal pigment epithelial dysfunction in patients with pigment dispersion syndrome: implications for the theory of pathogenesis.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that the retinal pigment epithelial/photoreceptor complex is affected in patients with pigment dispersion syndrome and/or in patients with pigmentary glaucoma. METHODS: Electro-oculograms were recorded from patients with pigment dispersion syndrome, pigmentary glaucoma, ocular hypertension, and primary open-angle glaucoma and from control subjects. Electro-oculograms were recorded during 15 minutes of dark adaptation followed by 15 minutes of light adaptation. For each subject, dark-trough amplitudes, dark-trough latencies, light-peak amplitudes, light-peak latencies, and ratios of the light-peak amplitude to the dark-trough amplitude (Arden ratios) were calculated. RESULTS: A 1-way analysis of variance of the Arden ratios indicated significant differences among the groups of subjects. Results of a post hoc Newman-Keuls test revealed that the mean Arden ratios of patients with pigment dispersion syndrome and patients with pigmentary glaucoma were significantly lower than the mean ratios of the controls, the patients with primary open-angle glaucoma, and those with ocular hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide support for the hypothesis that the integrity of the retinal pigment epithelial/photoreceptor complex is affected in patients with pigment dispersion syndrome and in those with pigmentary glaucoma. Congenital and/or structural abnormalities of the retinal pigment epithelial/photoreceptor complex should be considered when models of the etiology of pigment dispersion syndrome are proposed.

Adult↗

Murine and bovine blue cone pigment genes: cloning and characterization of two new members of the S family of visual pigments.

Two novel visual pigment genes, mouse blue and bovine blue, have been isolated from mouse and bovine genomic libraries, respectively, using a human blue cone pigment cDNA as probe. Corresponding cDNA clones have also been obtained from mouse retinas. The intron-exon boundaries for the mouse gene were determined by comparing the genomic and cDNA sequences. The visual pigments encoded by the mouse and bovine blue pigment genes are highly homologous to each other (89% amino acid identity) and to human blue and chicken violet cone pigments (greater than 80% identity), but are less homologous to chicken or goldfish blue cone pigments (less than 50% identity). These results indicate that phylogenetically both mouse and bovine blue pigments belong to the S branch of visual pigments, rather than to the M branch.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Pigmented ameloblastic fibrodentinoma: a novel melanin-pigmented intraosseous odontogenic lesion.

This paper reports about an ameloblastic fibrodentinoma with macroscopically visible pigmentation, resulting in the clinical appearance of a melanotic lesion in a 21-year-old Japanese male. In addition to the characteristic histopathologic features of ameloblastic fibrodentinoma, various-formed and -sized cells, which were considered to be melanophages containing numerous aggregates of melanin pigment in their cytoplasm, were densely distributed throughout the mesenchymal component. In addition, melanin pigment was deposited in dentin. Some of the pigmented cells showed dendritic form and were regarded as melanocytes. Furthermore, pigmented cells were frequently distributed in the epithelial component, and melanin pigment was seen in some epithelial cells. Perusal of the English language literature revealed 30 cases of pigmented odontogenic tumors: 18 were calcifying odontogenic cysts, three were ameloblastic fibro-odontomas, three were adenomatoid odontogenic tumors, two were odontomas, one was an ameloblastic fibroma and one was an odontogenic fibroma. However, all of these reported lesions did not show macroscopically visible pigmentation. The possible histogenesis of melanocytes in the odontogenic lesions is discussed, although no firm conclusion could be drawn.

Adult↗

Actin-dependent, retrograde motility of surface-attached beads and aggregating pigment granules in dissociated teleost retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Teleost retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells contain pigment granules within apical projections which undergo actin-dependent, bi-directional motility. Dissociated RPE cells in culture attach to the substrate and extend apical projections in a radial array from the central cell body. Pigment granules within projections can be triggered to aggregate or disperse by the presence or absence of 1 mM cAMP. Aminated, fluorescent latex beads attached to the dorsal surface of apical projections and moved in the retrograde direction, towards the cell body. Bead rates on RPE cells with aggregating or fully aggregated pigment granules were 2.2 +/- 0.5 and 2.6 +/- 0.2 microm/min (mean +/- SEM), respectively, similar to rates of aggregating (retrograde) pigment granule movement (2.0 +/- 0.4 microm/min). Bead rates were slightly slower on cells with fully dispersed or dispersing pigment granules (1.5 +/- 0.1 and 1.5 +/- 0.4 microm/min). Movements of surface-attached beads and aggregating pigment granules were closely correlated in the distal portions of apical projections, but were more independent of each other in proximal regions of the projections. The actin disrupting drug, cytochalasin D (CD), reversibly halted retrograde bead movements, suggesting that motility of surface-attached particles is actin-dependent. In contrast, the microtubule depolymerizing drug, nocodazole, had no effect on retrograde bead motility. The similar characteristics and actin-dependence of retrograde bead movements and aggregating pigment granules suggest a correlation between these two processes.

Actins↗

Molecular properties of rod and cone visual pigments from purified chicken cone pigments to mouse rhodopsin in situ.

We have investigated the molecular properties of rod and cone visual pigments to elucidate the differences in the molecular mechanism(s) of the photoresponses between rod and cone photoreceptor cells. We have found that the cone pigments exhibit a faster pigment regeneration and faster decay of meta-II and meta-III intermediates than the rod pigment, rhodopsin. Mutagenesis experiments have revealed that the amino acid residues at positions 122 and 189 in the opsins are the determinants for these differences. In order to study the relationship between the molecular properties of visual pigments and the physiology of rod photoreceptors, we used mouse rhodopsin as a model pigment because, by gene-targeting, the spectral properties of the pigment can be directly correlated to the physiology of the cells. In the present paper, we summarize the spectroscopic properties of cone pigments and describe our studies with mouse rhodopsin utilizing a high performance charge coupled device (CCD) spectrophotometer.

Animals↗

Dense pigmentation of the posterior lens capsule associated with the pigment dispersion syndrome.

PURPOSE: To report an unusual case of pigment dispersion syndrome associated with unilateral dense pigmentation of the posterior lens capsule. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 59-year-old male with bilateral pigment dispersion syndrome presented with progressive decrease in visual acuity in the left eye over the past 10 to 20 years. Clinical examination revealed the typical findings of pigment dispersion syndrome including the presence of bilateral Krunkenberg spindles, iris transillumination defects, and heavy trabecular meshwork pigmentation. Of note, there was remarkably dense pigmentation of the posterior lens capsule in the eye with decreased visual acuity. CONCLUSION: Pigmentation of the posterior lens capsule may be a rare finding associated with pigment dispersion syndrome. Such a finding suggests that there may be aqueous flow into the retrolental space in some patients with this condition. The optimal treatment of this unusual condition remains undetermined.

Exfoliation Syndrome↗