About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffAcanthosis nigricans is often associated with conditions that increase your insulin level, such as type 2 diabetes or being overweight. If your insulin level is too high, the extra insulin may trigger activity in your skin cells. This may cause the characteristic skin changes.
In some cases, acanthosis nigricans is inherited. Certain medications — such as oral contraceptives and large doses of niacin — can contribute to the condition. Other hormone problems, endocrine disorders or tumors may play a role as well. Rarely, acanthosis nigricans is associated with certain types of cancer.
- DeWitt CA, et al. Cutaneous manifestations of internal malignant disease: Cutaneous paraneoplastic syndromes. In: Wolff K, et al. Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine. 7th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw Hill Companies; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2961164. Accessed Jan. 10, 2010.
- Goldstein BG, et al. Metabolic and inherited diseases affecting the skin. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2010.
- Cutaneous manifestations of internal disease. In: Habif TP. Clinical Dermatology: A Color Guide to Diagnosis and Therapy. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier; 2010. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7234-3541-9..00035-3--s0160&displayedEid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7234-3541-9..00035-3--s0180&uniq=178031830&isbn=978-0-7234-3541-9&sid=938193257#lpState=open&lpTab=contentsTab&content=4-u1.0-B978-0-7234-3541-9..00035-3--st0155%3Bfrom%3Dcontent%3Bisbn%3D978-0-7234-3541-9%3Btype%3DbookPage. Accessed Jan.10, 2010.
- Reynolds RV. Cutaneous manifestations of internal malignancy. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Jan. 9, 2010.
- Acanthosis nigricans. American Osteopathic College of Dermatology. www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_diseases/acanthosis_nigrica.html. Accessed Jan. 10, 2010
Find Mayo Clinic on