INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEM
-It consists of the skin and accessory structures,
such as hair, glands, and nails.
-Integument means covering.
FUNCTIONS
1. Protection - against abrasion and ultraviolet
light.
2. Sensation - Has sensory receptors that can
detect heat, cold, touch, pressure, and pain.
3. Vitamin D production - When exposed to
ultraviolet light, the skin produces a molecule
that can be transformed into vitamin D.
4. Temperature regulation - The amount of
blood flow beneath the skin’s surface and the
activity of sweat glands in the skin both help
regulate body temperature.
5. Excretion - Small amounts of waste products
are lost through the skin and in gland
secretions.
Skin
▪ Made up of two major tissue layers: the
epidermis and the dermis.
▪ Epidermis is the most superficial layer of skin.
It is a layer of epithelial tissue that rests on the
dermis.
▪ Dermis is a layer of dense connective tissue.
▪ The skin rests on the subcutaneous tissue,
which is a layer of connective tissue.
▪ The subcutaneous tissue is not part of the skin
EPIDERMIS
▪ Prevents water loss and resists abrasion.
▪ The epidermis, known as the cutaneous
membrane, is a keratinized stratified squamous
epithelium.
▪ As new cells form, they push older cells to the
surface, where they slough, or flake off
▪ The epidermis is composed of distinct layers
called strata
1. The stratum corneum - the most
superficial stratum, 25 or more layers of
dead squamous cells.
- Keratin gives the stratum corneum its
structural strength.
- Excessive sloughing of stratum
corneum cells from the surface of the
scalp is called dandruff.
- In skin subjected to friction, the
number of layers in the stratum
corneum greatly increases, producing a
thickened area called a callus.
- Over a bony prominence, the stratum
corneum can thicken to form a cone-
shaped structure called a corn.
2. Stratum lucidum – 3 – 5 layers of
dead cells; appears transparent;
present in thick skin, absent in most of
thin skin.
3. Stratum granulosum – 2 – 5 layers of
flattened, diamond shaped cells.
4. Stratum spinosum – a total of 8-10
layers of many-sided cells.
5. Stratum basale - cells of the deepest
strata perform mitosis, single layer of
cuboidal or columnar cells; basement
membrane of the epidermis attaches to
the dermis
DERMIS
▪ It is composed of dense collagenous
connective tissue containing fibroblasts,
adipocytes, and macrophages.
▪ Nerves, hair follicles, smooth muscles,
glands, and lymphatic vessels extend
into the dermis.
▪ Collagen fibers, oriented in many
directions, and elastic fibers are
responsible for the structural strength
of the dermis and resistance to stretch.
▪ Some collagen fibers are oriented
more directions than others, forming
cleavage lines
▪ Cleavage lines, or tension lines, in the
skin, are more resistant to stretch.
 - An incision made parallel with these
lines tends to gap less and produce less
scar tissue.
- If the skin is overstretched for any
reason, the dermis can be damaged,
leaving stretch marks
▪ Dermal papillae are projections
toward the epidermis found in the
upper part of the dermis.
- The dermal papillae contain many
blood vessels.
- The dermal papillae in the palms of
the hands, the soles of the feet, and the
tips of the digits are arranged in
parallel, curving ridges that shape the
overlying epidermis into fingerprints
and footprints
SKIN COLOR
▪ Melanin is primarily responsible for
skin, air, and eye color.
▪ Most melanin molecules are brown to
black pigments, but some are yellowish
or reddish.
▪ Melanin provides protection against
ultraviolet light
▪ Melanin is produced by melanocytes
and the melanin is packaged into
vesicles called melanosomes.
▪ Epithelial cells phagocytize the tips of
the melanocyte cell processes, thereby
acquiring melanosomes.
▪ Large amounts of melanin form
freckles or moles
▪ Melanin production is determined by
genetic factors, exposure to light, and
hormones.
▪ Genetic factors are responsible for the
amounts of melanin produced in
different races.
▪ Since all races have about the same
number of melanocytes, racial
variations in skin color are determined
▪ Exposure to ultraviolet light—for
example, in sunlight stimulates
melanocytes to increase melanin
production. The result is a suntan.
▪ Although many genes are responsible
for skin color, a single mutation can
prevent the production of melanin and
cause albinism.
▪ Carotene is lipid-soluble; when
consumed, it accumulates in the lipids
of the stratum corneum and in the
adipocytes of the dermis and
subcutaneous tissue.
▪ Carotene is a yellow pigment found in
plants such as squash and carrots. by
the amount, kind, and distribution of
melanin
▪ If large amounts of carotene are
consumed, the skin can become quite
yellowish.
▪ The color of blood in the dermis
contributes to skin color.
▪ A decrease in blood flow, as occurs in
shock, can make the skin appear pale.
▪ A decrease in the blood O2 content
produces a bluish color of the skin,
called cyanosis
HAIR
▪ In humans, hair is found everywhere
on the skin, except on the palms, soles,
lips, nipples, parts of the genitalia, and
the distal segments of the fingers and
toes.
▪ Each hair arises from a hair follicle, an
invagination of the epidermis that
extends deep into the dermis.
▪ Lanugo is soft, fine hair covering a
fetus while inside the uterus
▪ Vellus are short, fine, and usually
unpigmented, replace the lanugo on the
rest of the body.
▪ A hair shaft protrudes above the
surface of the skin
▪ The root is below the surface
▪ The hair bulb is the expanded base of
the root.
▪ A hair has a hard cortex, which
surrounds a softer center, the medulla.
▪ The cortex is covered by the cuticle, a
single layer of overlapping cells that
holds the hair in the hair follicle.
▪ Hair is produced in the hair bulb,
which rests on the hair papilla.
▪ The hair papilla is an extension of the
dermis that protrudes into the hair bulb
and contains blood vessels.
GLANDS
▪ The major glands of the skin are the
sebaceous glands and the sweat glands.
▪ Sebaceous glands are simple,
branched acinar glands, with most
being connected by a duct to the
superficial part of a hair follicle.
- They produce sebum, oily, white
substance rich in lipids.
- The sebum is released by holocrine
secretion and lubricates the hair and
the surface of the skin, which prevents
drying and protects against some
bacteria.
▪ Two kinds of sweat glands: eccrine
and apocrine.
▪ Eccrine sweat glands are simple,
coiled, tubular glands and release sweat
by merocrine secretion. - Eccrine glands
are located in almost every part of the
skin but most numerous in the palms
and soles.
- They produce a secretion that is
mostly water with a few salts.
- Eccrine sweat glands have ducts that
open onto the surface of the skin
through sweat pores and are for
thermal regulation.
▪ Sweat can also be released in the
palms, soles, armpits, and other places
because of emotional stress.
▪ Apocrine sweat glands are simple,
coiled, tubular glands that produce a
thick secretion rich in organic
substances.
- The glands open into hair follicles in
the armpits and genitalia.
- Apocrine sweat glands become active
at puberty because of the influence of
sex hormones.
- The secretion generally is odorless, but
when released quickly breaks down by
bacterial action giving body odor.
NAILS
▪ The nail is a thin plate, consisting of
layers of dead stratum corneum cells
that contain a very hard type of keratin.
▪ The visible part of the nail is the nail
body, and the part of the nail covered
by skin is the nail root.
▪ The cuticle, or eponychium, is stratum
corneum that extends onto the nail
body and the nail root extends distally
from the nail matrix.
▪ The nail also attaches to the
underlying nail bed, which is located
distal to the nail matrix.
▪ The nail matrix and bed are epithelial
tissue with a stratum basale that gives
rise to the cells that form the nail.
▪ A small part of the nail matrix, the
lunula, can be seen through the nail
body as a whitish, crescent-shaped area
at the base of the nail.
▪ Cell production within the nail matrix
causes the nail to grow continuously.