Case of exogenous insulin-derived acanthosis nigricans caused by insulin injections.

Abstract

A 73-year-old male with diabetes mellitus had been treated with insulin for six years. He developed a solid mass on his left lateral of the abdomen at the insulin injection site. A firm subcutaneous mass with dark-red erythema was overlaid by dark-brown keratinized plaques. On histological examination of the mass, keratin proliferation and epidermal papilloma were observed. There were four previously reported cases of acanthosis nigricans that were considered to be caused by continuous injections of insulin. Using immunohistochemistry, in our case the findings were positive in the basal epithelial and prickle cell layers when the patient's lesion was dyed with insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 antibody. The coexistence of dermal IGF-1 receptor and acanthosis nigricans found in our patient has not been reported previously, to our knowledge.

• Authors: Eiichiro Yahagi, Tomotaka Mabuchi, Hiroko Nuruki, Yasuaki Manabe, Norihiro Ikoma, Akira Ozawa, Naoyuki Yamamoto, Eitaro Tanaka, Yasutomo Sekido, Takashi Matsuyama
• Journal: The Tokai journal of experimental and clinical medicine (Tokai J Exp Clin Med) Vol. 39 Issue 1 Pg. 5-9 (Mar 20 2014) ISSN: 2185-2243 [Electronic] Japan
• PMID: 24733591 (Publication Type: Case Reports, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Insulin
• Receptor, IGF Type 1

Topics

• Acanthosis Nigricans (chemically induced, metabolism, pathology)
• Aged
• Humans
• Injections, Subcutaneous
• Insulin (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
• Male
• Receptor, IGF Type 1 (metabolism)