Unit 4: Integumentary System
Czerina V. Gadil, M.D. , R.M.T
Overview
The integumentary system is composed of the skin, hair, nails,
and cutaneous glands.
Word Roots and Combining Forms
• cutane/o: skin
• cyan/o: blue
• derm/o: skin
• dermat/o: skin
• kerat/o: hard
• melan/o: black
• onych/o: nail
• seb/o: oil
Anatomy of the Skin, Hair, and Nails
• The skin is the largest organ of the body.
• It is composed of two layers:
1. Superficial layer: epidermis
• Stratified squamous epithelial tissue
2. Deep layer: dermis
• Loose/areolar connective tissue over dense irregular connective tissue
HYPODERMIS – subcutaneous tissue , made up of adipose cells – shock absorber
Anatomy of the Skin, Hair, and Nails
Epidermis: 4 or 5 layers (strata)
1. Stratum basale: simple cuboidal epithelial
tissue
• Actively divides to make new epidermis
• Deepest layer of the epidermis
2. Stratum spinosum & granulosum:
superficial to the basale
3. Stratum lucidum: found only in thick skin
4. Stratum corneum: composed of dead,
keratin-filled cells that flake off (exfoliate)
Anatomy of the Skin
Keratinocytes
• Make up the majority of epidermal cells
• Grow and divide pushing the older cells up
toward the surface
• Produce and fill themselves with keratin (a hard,
waterproof protein) as they move toward the
surface
• Stratum corneum contains the keratinocytes that
have completely filled with keratin and died
• This process is called cornification.
Anatomy of the Skin
Melanocytes
• Produce skin pigments called melanin.
• Cells stay in the stratum basale
• Keratinocytes take in melanin-filled vesicles called
melanosomes by endocytosis
• Melanocytes may not be evenly distributed across the skin,
and denser patches of these cells account for freckles and
moles
Anatomy of the Skin
Tactile cells
• Receptors for fine touch
• Found in the stratum basale associated with
nerve cells in the underlying dermis
Dendritic cells
• Immune system cells found in the stratum
spinosum and the stratum granulosum
• Alert the body’s immune system to the invasion
of pathogens
The
Dermis
Anatomy of the Skin
Dermis
• Papillae
• Conelike projections of dermis that fit
into recesses of epidermis
• Possess blood vessels, touch receptors
• Form fingerprints and toe prints
Anatomy of the Skin
Dermis
• Fibers
• Composed of fibrous connective tissue
made by fibroblasts
• Collagen: strength and toughness
• Elastic fibers: extensibility and elasticity
Anatomy of the Skin
Dermis
• Nutrition
• Vitamin A and vitamin C are important for healthy skin because they
are necessary for collagen production.
• Vitamin A
• Green and yellow vegetables, dairy products, and liver
• Vitamin C
• Fruits and green vegetables.
Dermis
• Nerve Endings
• Pressure, pain, warm, and cold receptors are in deeper
parts of the dermis.
• Lamellated and tactile corpuscles are for pressure and
touch.
• Free nerve endings are for pain.
• Receptor nerve endings may surround a hair follicle.
Dermis
• There are two main types of cutaneous glands:
1. Sebaceous glands produce sebum (oil)
2. Sweat glands
Dermis
• Sebaceous glands
• Oil-producing
• Empty sebum into hair follicles
• Functions to moisturize the skin and hair
Dermis
• Sebaceous glands
• Estrogen and testosterone increase sebum production.
• Excess sebum can block or plug the ducts of the
glands forming a comedo (pimple).
• The condition is called acne.
• Most common occurrence is during puberty when
sex hormone levels rise.
Dermis
• Sweat glands
• Apocrine sweat gland
• Merocrine sweat gland
• Ceruminous gland
• Mammary gland
Dermis
• Merocrine sweat glands
• Occur all over the body
• Secrete sweat onto skin surface directly
• Clear, watery perspiration
• Activated with increase in body temperature
• Functions to cool the body through evaporation
Dermis
• Apocrine sweat gland
• Empty secretion into hair follicle
• Located in axillary and genital regions
• Activate at puberty
• Milky sweat due to proteins and fats
• Odorless - body odor due to bacterial decomposition
Dermis
• Ceruminous glands
• Produce cerumen
• Found in external auditory canal
• Keep foreign particles and insects out of auditory canal
Dermis
• Mammary gland
• In breast tissue
• Produces milk
• Nourishes an infant
Dermis
• Hair follicles
• Arrector pili muscle
• Contracts and raises the hair in the follicle on end
• Causes “goose bumps”
• Little value for human survival
Hair
• The three types of hair are lanugo, vellus, and
terminal.
• A hair can be divided into three sections: the
bulb, the root, and the shaft.
• There are three layers to a hair: the inner
medulla, the cortex, and the cuticle.
Hair
• All types of human hair can be
divided into three sections :
• The bulb is a thickening of the hair
at the end of the hair follicle.
• The root extends from the bulb to
the skin’s surface.
• The shaft is the section of the hair
extending out from the skin’s
surface.
Hair
• Lanugo hair
• Very fine and unpigmented (colorless)
• Forms on a fetus during the last three
months of its development
• Lanugo hair is usually replaced by
birth
• Vellus hair
• Unpigmented and very fine, replaces
lanugo hair around the time of birth
• Vellus hair is the body hair on most
women and children
Hair
• Terminal hair
• Thick, coarse, and heavily
pigmented, forms the eyebrows,
eyelashes, and hair on the scalp.
• At puberty, terminal hair forms in the
axillary and pubic regions of both
sexes. It also forms on the face and
possibly on the trunk and limbs of
men.
Hair
• Hair goes through a growing stage and a resting
stage, and then it falls out.
• Not all of the hairs on the head cycle are on the
same schedule.
• Each hair grows about a half inch per month, and its
growth stage lasts for approximately three years
• Each hair then goes into a one- to two-year resting stage,
and then it falls out
• Roughly 90 percent of the hairs on your head are
somewhere in the growing stage at any given time
• Normally lose about 100 hairs from your scalp every day
Nails - protect the ends of the fingers and toes, aid in
grasping small objects, and are used for scratching.
• Nail matrix: growth center at the root of the nail is composed
of active keratinocytes in the stratum basale.
• The free edge of the nail and the nail body make up the nail
plate.
• The nail body lies on the nail bed.
• The eponychium, or cuticle, is composed of stratum
corneum cells.
• Nails are composed of stratum corneum cells with hard
keratin.
• The lunula is (white crescent) where the nail matrix is
thick enough to hide the blood vessels.
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