Large melanosome complexes in the human gingival epithelium

Abstract

The morphology of melanosome complexes (MC) in gingival epithelium from smokers and non‐smokers was studied by electron microscopy. The cross‐cut diameter was measured on 770 complexes within keratinocytes. In pigmented smokers and non‐smokers the average diameter was between 0.51 and 0.63 μm, which is larger than those observed in clinically non‐pigmented non‐smokers and compared to those previously reported from clinically non‐pigmented Caucasians. The diameter of 95% of all complexes was less than 1.0 μm, but 40 large melanosome complexes (LMC) were also found. LMC could reach a diameter of 3.2 μm, and contain more than 100 melanin granules. The presence of LMC in oral mucosa has not been reported previously, but they have been observed in pigmented human skin disorders. Our finding of LMC in the gingival epithelium of pigmented individuals among smokers and non‐smokers, but not in non‐pigmented non‐smokers, indicate that this entity is related to melanosome packaging in situations of high melanin production and not necessarily only to pathological conditions.

The prevalence of smoker’s melanosis and racial pigmentation in Gingiva: A literature review

“…The pigmentation of the attached gingiva presents as the most common. Meanwhile, some of major cause of pathological gingiva pigmentation includes [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] endocrine disorder, drug induced, smoking associated, oral melanocytic pigmentations, Kaposi sarcoma, heavy metals and others. All these pathological causes present with varied clinical appearance, but the one similarity they present is that they will alter the colour of the gingiva.…”