Human skin pigmentation: Melanocytes modulate skin color in response to stress
Abstract
All organisms, from simple invertebrates to complex human beings, exist in different colors and patterns, which arise from the unique distribution of pigments throughout the body. Pigmentation is highly heritable, being regulated by genetic, environmental, and endocrine factors that modulate the amount, type, and distribution of melanins in the skin, hair, and eyes. In addition to its roles in camouflage, heat regulation, and cosmetic variation, melanin protects against UV radiation and thus is an important defense system in human skin against harmful factors. Being the largest organ of the body that is always under the influence of internal and external factors, the skin often reacts to those agents by modifying the constitutive pigmentation pattern. The focus of this review is to provide an updated overview of important physiological and biological factors that increase pigmentation and the mechanisms by which they do so. We consider endocrine factors that induce temporary (e.g., during pregnancy) or permanent (e.g., during aging) changes in skin color, environmental factors (e.g., UV), certain drugs, and chemical compounds, etc. Understanding the mechanisms by which different factors and compounds induce melanogenesis is of great interest pharmaceutically (as therapy for pigmentary diseases) and cosmeceutically (e.g., to design tanning products with potential to reduce skin cancer risk).
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Failing to correct for PPG errors exacerbates existing healthcare disparities.
“failing to correct for these errors exacerbates existing healthcare disparities [10,23,24,25,26]”
From PPG-Based Heart Rate Accuracy in Hispanic Adults with Fitzpatrick III–V Skin Tones: An Evaluation of Body Composition and Skin-Tone Effects (2026) · cites this paper as [24]
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- Authors
- Costin, G.-E., & Hearing, V. J.
- Affiliations
- Avon (United States) (US)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Venue
- The FASEB Journal
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2007-01-22
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 976-994
- ISSN
- 0892-6638 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-6860
- OpenAlex
- W2112467050
- Cited by
- 976
- References
- 151
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 62 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 61 · 2021: 56 · 2020: 71 · 2019: 64 · 2018: 63 · 2017: 55 · 2016: 70 · 2015: 56 · 2014: 64 · 2013: 65 · 2012: 43
- FWCI
- 2.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The FASEB Journal (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Cancer Institute
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › melanin and skin pigmentation
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Melanoma and MAPK Pathways
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Dermatologic Treatments and Research
- Keywords
- skin pigmentation, melanocytes, melanogenesis, melanin, ultraviolet radiation, hormonal regulation, skin aging, drug-induced pigmentation, skin cancer prevention
- MeSH terms
- Cell Differentiation, Endocrine System, Humans, Melanins, Melanocytes, Models, Biological, Pigmentation, Skin, Skin Physiological Phenomena, Stress, Physiological, Ultraviolet Rays, Keratinocytes, Dermis
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
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