title: Skin color is associated with insulin resistance in nondiabetic peritoneal dialysis patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Changes in skin color are common among dialysis patients. They are associated with urochrome pigments, hemoglobin, and changes in cutaneous vasculature. Insulin resistance (IR) is strongly linked to cutaneous vascular dysfunction and is prevalent in dialysis patients. We postulated skin color may be associated with IR in dialysis patients because of the alternation in cutaneous vasculature.
  
  
  METHODS
  50 nondiabetic peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients were recruited for measurements of skin color by the Commission Internationale de I'Eclairage (CIE; International Commission on Illumination) system ("L" "a" "b" system). The "L" values represent skin brightness, "a" redness, and "b" yellowness. Correlation analysis between skin color, homeostatic model assessment (HOMA(IR)), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and adiponectin was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We divided patients (age 45 +/- 13 years, 31 women) into 3 groups according to tertiles of HOMA(IR). Patients with higher HOMA(IR) had a trend to have poor skin color (lower "a" and "b" values; p = 0.038 and 0.064). HOMA(IR), adiponectin, and HDL-C levels were correlated with "a" and "b" values in logarithm (all p < 0.05). After adjustments for age, hemoglobin level, duration of PD, and residual renal glomerular filtration rate, only HOMA(IR) was associated with "a" values (p = 0.038) and HDL-C was associated with "b" values (p = 0.048) in logarithm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Skin color, measured noninvasively, is associated with HOMA(IR) and HDL-C. Nondiabetic PD patients that had more severe IR had worse skin color.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors: Hung-Yuan
authors: HY
authors: Chen
authors: Tze-Wah
authors: TW
authors: Kao
authors: Yen-Lin
authors: YL
authors: Chiu
authors: Jenq-Wen
authors: JW
authors: Huang
authors: Chun-Fu
authors: CF
authors: Lai
authors: Tsen-Fang
authors: TF
authors: Tsai
authors: Tzong-Shinn
authors: TS
authors: Chu
authors: Kwan-Dun
authors: KD
authors: Wu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology*; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010530:Peritoneal Dialysis / Q000379:methods*; D012880:Skin Pigmentation / Q000502:physiology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D007328:Insulin