Skin Tags and Atherosclerotic Risk Factors

• DOI: 10.1111/j.1346-8138.2005.tb00909.x
• Publication Date: 2014-07-22T09:05:07Z
• Authors: Berna Şanlı Erdoğan; Şebnem Aktan; Simin Rota; Şeniz Ergin; Deniz Evliyaoğlu
• Keywords: Male; obesity; Arteriosclerosis; Comorbidity; Severity of Illness Index; Body Mass Index; 0302 clinical medicine; high density lipoprotein cholesterol; benign tumor; Reference Values; Risk Factors; insulin resistance; lipid metabolism; glucose; skin tag; 2. Zero hunger; clinical article; adult; Incidence; article; Middle Aged; 3. Good health; female; risk factor; Female; triacylglycerol; Adult; Age Distribution; Arteriosclerosis/diagnosis/*epidemiology; Body Mass Index; Case-Control Studies; Comorbidity; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Hyperlipidemias/*epidemiology; Incidence; Insulin Resistance; Male; Middle Aged; Obesity/*epidemiology; Polyps/diagnosis/*epidemiology; Reference Values; Risk Factors; Sensitivity and Specificity; Severity of Illness Index; Sex Distribution; Skin Diseases/diagnosis/*epidemiology; Statistics, Nonparametric; Adult; insulin; 610; Hyperlipidemias; oral glucose tolerance test; Sensitivity and Specificity; Skin tags; 03 medical and health sciences; Age Distribution; Polyps; male; lipid; Humans; carbohydrate metabolism; controlled study; human; immunoassay; Obesity; chemoluminescence; disease association; cholesterol; Insulin resistance; body mass; Dyslipidemia; carbohydrate; Case-Control Studies; skin tags; insulin resistance; dyslipidemia; atherosclerosis; Insulin Resistance; Follow-Up Studies

An association between skin tags and insulin resistance, obesity, impaired carbohydrate and lipid metabolism has been suggested. However, there still is a need for comprehensive and controlled clinical studies. We aimed to evaluate the atherogenic risk factors in patients with skin tags. Thirty-six patients with skin tags who were admitted to the dermatology department and 22 healthy controls were included in this study. Possible subjects who were taking systemic drugs or who had a systemic disease that may be associated with lipid or carbohydrate metabolism abnormalities were excluded from the study. All the measurements were completed in 26 patients. Standard oral glucose tolerance tests were performed on the patient and control groups. Serum insulin, total cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol levels were measured. LDL-cholesterol and VLDL-cholesterol ratios and HOMA-IR and body mass indices were calculated. The mean levels of body mass index, HOMA-IR, and total cholesterol were significantly higher in patients than in controls. In conclusion, skin tags may not be innocent tumoral proliferations; instead, follow-up of such patients with regard to the development of diseases associated with atherosclerosis may be beneficial.