DAVAO DOCTORS COLLEGE
MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
STUDENT NOTES: BIO101
HUMAN ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY (MIDTERM)
Integumentary System
Skin (Integument) • Keratinocytes – produce the fibrous protein
keratin
• Melanocytes – produce the brown pigment
melanin
• Langerhans’ cells – epidermal macrophages
that help activate the immune system
• Merkel cells – function as touch receptors in
association with sensory nerve endings
Layers of the Epidermis:
Consists of three major regions Stratum Basale (Basal Layer)
1. Epidermis – outermost superficial region - Deepest epidermal layer firmly attached to
2. Dermis – middle region the dermis
3. Hypodermis – deepest region - Consists of a single row of the youngest
keratinocytes
EPIDERMIS - Cells undergo rapid division, hence its
- Composed of keratinized stratified alternate name, stratum germinativum
squamous epithelium, consisting of four
distinct cell types and four or five layers Stratum Spinosum (Prickly Layer)
- Cell types include keratinocytes, - Cells contain a weblike system of
melanocytes, Merkel cells, and Langerhans’ intermediate filaments attached to
cells desmosomes
- Outer portion of the skin is exposed to the - Melanin granules and Langerhans’ cells are
external environment and functions in abundant in this layer
protection
Stratum Granulosum (Granular Layer)
Cells of the Epidermis - Thin; three to five cell layers in which
drastic changes in keratinocyte appearance
occurs
- Keratohyaline and lamellated granules
accumulate in the cells of this layer
Stratum Lucidium (Clear Layer)
- Thin, transparent band superficial to the
stratum granulosum
- Consists of a few rows of flat, dead
keratinocytes
- Present only in thick skin
Stratum Corneum (Horny Layer)
- Outermost layer of keratinized cells
- Accounts for three quarters of the
epidermal thickness
Function of the Epidermis
✓ Waterproofing
✓ Protection from abrasion and SWEAT GLANDS
penetration • Different types prevent overheating of the
✓ Renders the body relatively body; secret cerumen and milk
insensitive to biological, chemical,
and physical assaults
DERMIS
- Second major skin region containing strong,
flexible connective tissue
- Cell types include fibroblasts, macrophages,
and occasionally mast cells and white blood
cells
- Composed of two layers – papillary and
reticular
Dermis: Papillary Layer
Eccrine sweat glands
- Areolar connective tissue with collagen and
– found in palms, soles of the feet, and
elastic fibers
forehead
- Its superior surface contains peglike
Apocrine sweat glands
projections called dermal papillae
– found in axillary and anogenital areas
- Dermal papillae contain capillary loops,
Ceruminous glands
Meissner’s corpuscles, and free nerve
– modified apocrine glands in external ear
endings
canal and secrete cerumen
Mammary glands
Dermis: Reticular Layer
– specialized sweat glands that secret milk
- Accounts for approximately 80% of the
thickness of the skin
SEBACEOUS GLANDS
- Collagen fibers in this layer add strength
and resiliency to the skin
- Elastin fibers provide stretch-recoil
properties
HYPODERMIS
- Subcutaneous layer deep to the skin
- Composed of adipose and areolar
connective tissue
Skin Color
• Three pigments contribute to skin color
1. Melanin • Soften skin when stimulated by hormones
- yellow to reddish-brown to black pigment, • Simple alveolar glands found all over the
responsible for dark skin colors body
Freckles and pigmented moles – result from
local accumulations of melanin • Secrete an oily secretion called sebum
HAIR
2. Carotene
-yellow to orange pigment, most
obvious in the palms and soles of the feet
3. Hemoglobin
– reddish pigment responsible for the
pinkish hue of the skin
- Helps maintain warmth, alerts the body to STRUCTURE OF A NAIL
presence of insects on the skin, and guards
the scalp against physical trauma, heat loss,
and sunlight
- Filamentous strands of dead keratinized
cells produced by hair follicles
- Contains hard keratin, which is tougher and
more durable than the soft keratin of the
skin
- Made up of the shaft projecting from the
skin and the root embedded in the skin
- Consists of a core called the medulla, a
cortex, and an outermost cuticle
- Pigmented by melanocytes at the base of
the hair
Hair Follicle
- Root sheath extending from the epidermal • Scalelike modification of the epidermis on
surface into the dermis the distal, dorsal surface of fingers and toes
- Deep end is expanded forming a hair bulb
- A knot of sensory nerve endings (a root hair FUNCTIONS OF THE INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM
plexus) wraps around each hair bulb • Protection – chemical, physical, and
- Bending a hair stimulates these endings, mechanical barrier
hence our hairs act as sensitive touch
receptors
• Body temperature
• Regulated by dilation (cooling) and
Types of Hair constriction (warming) of dermal vessels
Vellus • Sweat glands increase secretions to cool the
– pale, fine body hair found in children and the body
adult female
• Cutaneous sensation – exoreceptors sense
touch and pain
Terminal
– coarse, long hair of eyebrows, scalp, axillary, • Metabolic functions – synthesis of vitamin D
and pubic regions in dermal blood vessels
• Blood reservoir – skin blood vessels store
Hair Thinning and Baldness up to 5% of the body’s blood volume
• Excretion – limited amounts of nitrogenous
wastes are eliminated from the body in
sweat
SKIN CANCER
• Basal cell carcinoma
• Squamous cell carcinoma
• Melanoma
Basal Cell Carcinoma
- Least malignant and most common skin
cancer
- Stratum basale cells proliferate and invade
• Alopecia – hair thinning in both sexes the dermis and hypodermis
- Slow growing and do not often metastasize
• True, or frank, baldness – genetically
- Can be cured by surgical excision in 99% of
determined and sex influenced condition
the cases
(i.e., male pattern baldness)
Squamous Cell Carcinoma
- Arises from keratinocytes of stratum
spinosum
- Arise most often on scalp, ears, and lower • Vernix caseosa – substance produced by
lip sebaceous glands that protects fetus’s skin
- Grows rapidly and metastasizes if not in the amnion
removed
- Prognosis is good if treated by radiation DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE
therapy or removed surgically INTEGUMENT: ADOLESCENT TO ADULT
Melanoma • Skin and hair become oilier and acne may
- Cancer of melanocytes is the most appear
dangerous type of skin cancer • After one reaches the 20s and 30s, skin
- Melanomas have the following shows the effects of cumulative
characteristics (ABCD rule): environmental assaults
A: Asymmetry; the two sides of the • Scaling and dermatitis become more
pigmented area do not match common
B: Border is irregular and exhibits
indentations DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE
C: Color (pigmented area) is black, brown, INTEGUMENT:
tan, and sometimes red or blue OLD AGE
D: Diameter is larger than 6 mm (size of a
pencil eraser) • Epidermal replacement of cells slows and
- Treated by wide surgical excision skin becomes thinner
accompanied by immunotherapy • Skin becomes dry and itchy
- Chance of survival is poor if the lesion is • Subcutaneous fat layer diminishes, leading
over 4 mm thick to intolerance of cold
BURNS • Decreased elasticity and loss of
First-degree – only the epidermis is damaged subcutaneous tissue leads to wrinkles
Symptoms include localized redness, • Decreased numbers of melanocytes and
swelling, and pain Langerhans’cells increase the risk of skin
Second-degree – the epidermis and upper cancer
regions of dermis damaged
Symptoms mimic first degree burns, but
blisters also appear
Third-degree – involve entire thickness of the skin
Burned area appears gray-white, cherry red, Prepared by:
or black, and there is no initial edema nor
pain (since nerve endings are destroyed) Doren Venus P. Otod, RMT
Rule of Nines Reference: .
- Estimates the severity of burns 1. Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B.(2014).
- Burns considered critical if: Principles of anatomy & physiology
✓ Over 25% of the body has second- (14th ed.). U.S.A : Wiley (G12 / T638)
degree burns
✓ Over 10% of the body has third- 2. Marieb, E.N.(2014).Essential of human
degree burns anatomy & physiology (10th ed.).
✓ There are third-degree burns on Singapore : Pearson. (G12 / M338)
face, hands, or feet
DEVELOPMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE
INTEGUMENT: FETAL
• Epidermis develops from ectoderm
• Dermis and hypodermis develop from
mesoderm
• Lanugo – downy coat of delicate hairs
covering the fetus
