The Role of Stem Cell Factor in Hyperpigmented Skin Lesions.
BACKGROUND
Skin hyperpigmentation usually results from an increased number, or activity, of melanocytes. The degree of pigmentation of skin depends on the amount and type of melanin, degree of skin vascularity, presence of carotene, and thickness of the stratum corneum. Common causes of hyperpigmentation include post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, melasma, solar lentigines, ephelides (freckles), and café-au-lait macules. Some skin tumors can be hyperpigmented as basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and malignant melanoma (MM). Stem cell factor (SCF) is a growth factor and its interaction with its receptor, c-kit, is well known to be critical to the survival of melanocytes.


METHODS
This study was carried out on 60 patients complaining of hyperpigmented skin lesions (20 melasma, 20 solar lentigines, and 20 freckles) and 36 patients with skin tumors (14 BCC, 12 SCC, and 10 MM). Punch skin biopsies were taken from the previous lesions. Immunohistochemical staining of these samples was done using the stem cell factor (SCF).


RESULTS
There was positive expression of SCF in all cases of melasma, solar lentigines and freckles with significant increase in the intensity of expression in the lesional areas than the non-lesional ones (P=0.004). There was also a statistically significant increase in the expression of SCF in BCC and melanoma tumor cells.


CONCLUSION
SCF has a great role in skin hyperpigmented disorders and this can be used as a target for the developing of new antipigmentary lines of treatment by inhibiting SCF. SCF can also be involved in the emergence of some skin tumors.
['Atef|Aliaa|A|', 'El-Rashidy|Mohamed A|MA|', 'Abdel Azeem|Amal|A|', 'Kabel|Ahmed M|AM|']
D000328:Adult D000368:Aged D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor D002280:Carcinoma, Basal Cell D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell D016022:Case-Control Studies D005260:Female D005500:Follow-Up Studies D006801:Humans D017495:Hyperpigmentation D008297:Male D008545:Melanoma D008875:Middle Aged D011379:Prognosis D012878:Skin Neoplasms D019089:Stem Cell Factor
Stem cell factor melasma Basal cell carcinoma Melanoma