Integumentary System: Skin, Glands, Hair, Nails, and Aging

Question-and-answer flashcards covering skin layers, glands, hair, nails, immune cells, and age-related changes.

What immune cells, located in the dermis and at body surfaces, play a key role in IgE-mediated immediate hypersensitivity?

Mast cells

Which skin layer, also called the hypodermis, contains loose connective tissue and adipose tissue and serves as an insulator?

The subcutaneous layer

What is the medical term for inflammation of the subcutaneous and loose connective tissue?

Cellulitis

Which holocrine glands are usually associated with hair follicles, secrete sebum, lubricate skin, act as a bactericide, and are absent on palms and soles?

Sebaceous glands

What general name is given to the four types of sweat glands found in the skin?

Sudoriferous glands

Which sweat glands are found over most of the body, secrete a watery fluid low in NaCl, and are most numerous on the palms, soles, and forehead?

Eccrine glands

Which larger sweat glands empty into hair follicles of the axilla and anogenital areas and begin functioning at puberty, producing sweat plus fats and proteins?

Apocrine glands

Which specialized sweat glands in the external ear canal secrete ear wax to block insects and foreign material?

Ceruminous glands

Which specialized sweat glands secrete milk?

Mammary glands

What structure is a dead keratin plate produced by epidermal cells of the nail matrix?

The nail

What part of the nail is the white, crescent-shaped area visible beneath the proximal nail plate?

The lunula

True or False: Nails and hair have no nerve endings or blood supply.

True—they are dead keratin structures

Hair consists of flexible strands of _ produced by hair follicles.

Keratin

In which part of the follicle do cells divide rapidly, pushing dead hair cells upward where they harden and become pigmented?

The hair matrix

Which smooth muscle attached to hair follicles causes goosebumps when it contracts?

Arrector pili muscle

With aging, what happens to the thickness and moisture of the skin?

Skin becomes thinner and drier

Which two structural proteins decrease with age, leading to wrinkles?

Elastin and collagen

How does aging affect the number and length of capillary loops in the skin, and what function is consequently reduced?

Capillary loops shorten and decrease in number, reducing vascularity and thermoregulation

Name two immune-related cell types that decrease in number with aging, leading to a diminished inflammatory response.

Melanocytes and Langerhans cells

What happens to sebaceous, endocrine, and apocrine glands as skin ages?

They atrophy (decrease in size and activity).

List two common hair changes associated with aging.

Fewer hair follicles producing thinner hair; changes in hair color (e.g., graying, balding, increased facial/nasal/ear hair)

What skin color indicates lack of oxygen in the blood?

Cyanosis (blue skin)

Excess bilirubin in the blood causes which yellow discoloration of the skin?

Jaundice

What term describes redness of the skin caused by capillary engorgement?

Erythema

What is the medical term for bruising visible as discoloration beneath the skin?

Ecchymosis

A diet high in beta-carotene can turn the skin what color?

Orange