title: Correlation of acanthosis nigricans with insulin resistance, anthropometric, and other metabolic parameters in diabetic Indians.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acanthosis nigricans is a non-specific reaction pattern that may accompany obesity, diabetes, excess corticosteroids, pineal tumors, malignancies, and other endocrine disorders. It is considered a cutaneous marker of tissue insulin resistance.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of acanthosis nigricans in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and its correlation with various anthropometric measurements and insulin resistance by HOMA-IR and other metabolic parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and fifty consecutive subjects with newly diagnosed type 2 DM, attending the endocrinology OPD of LLRM Medical College, Meerut were studied. Acanthosis was graded based on standard scale of 0-4 as described by Burke et al. Anthropometric data were obtained and insulin resistance calculated as HOMA-IR from fasting insulin and fasting blood sugar values.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average age of the study population was 45.2 years, with male to female ratio of 1:5. The prevalence of acanthosis in males was 56.67% and in females was 86.92%. The acanthosis neck severity grading had a statistically significant correlation with fasting glucose levels, fasting insulin levels, and insulin resistance values: HOMA-IR, HOMA-S, and HOMA-B (P < 0.05). Other acanthosis parameters such as axillary grading, acanthosis at knuckles, and skin tags, did not have a statistically significant correlation with insulin resistance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acanthosis nigricans neck severity grading correlates well with insulin resistance and can be used as a clinical surrogate for assessment of severity of insulin resistance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, LLRM Medical College, Meerut Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Patidar
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ramachandra
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Philip
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saran
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gutch
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Gupta
keywords: Acanthosis nigricans; diabetes mellitus; insulin resistance
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references.pmid: 10526730
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