Bastonini Emanuela, Kovacs Daniela, Maresca Vittoria, Ottaviani Monica, Di Nardo Anna, Flori Enrica, Cardinali Giorgia, Briganti Stefania
Laboratory of Cutaneous Physiopathology and Integrated Center of Metabolomic Research, San Gallicano Dermatological Institute, IRCCS, 00144 Rome, Italy.
Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Jul 15;26(14):6785. doi: 10.3390/ijms26146785.
Skin pigmentation results from complex cellular interactions and is influenced by genetic, environmental, and metabolic factors. Emerging evidence highlights the multiple pathways by which lipids regulate melanogenesis and points to lipid metabolism and signaling as key players in this process. Lipidomics is a high-throughput omics approach that enables detailed characterization of lipid profiles, thus representing a valid tool for evaluating skin lipid functional role in both physiological melanogenesis and pigmentary disorders. The use of lipidomics to gain a deeper comprehension of the role of lipids in skin pigmentation is still an evolving field, but it has allowed the identification of significant lipid dysregulation in several pigmentary pathologies. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the involvement of lipids in skin pigmentation, focusing on lipid profile alterations described in hyper- and hypopigmentary disorders such as post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, melasma, solar lentigo, and vitiligo. Lipidomic profiling reveals disease-specific alterations supporting the pivotal role of lipid signaling in the physiopathological mechanisms of melanogenesis. These findings provide insights into disease pathogenesis and show promise for the discovery of biomarkers and innovative therapeutic strategies for pigmentary disorders.
皮肤色素沉着源于复杂的细胞相互作用，并受遗传、环境和代谢因素影响。新出现的证据凸显了脂质调节黑素生成的多种途径，并指出脂质代谢和信号传导是这一过程中的关键因素。脂质组学是一种高通量组学方法，能够详细表征脂质谱，因此是评估皮肤脂质在生理性黑素生成和色素紊乱中功能作用的有效工具。利用脂质组学更深入理解脂质在皮肤色素沉着中的作用仍是一个不断发展的领域，但它已使人们能够在几种色素沉着病理中识别出显著的脂质失调。本综述总结了目前关于脂质参与皮肤色素沉着的知识，重点关注炎症后色素沉着、黄褐斑、日光性雀斑和白癜风等色素沉着过多和过少性疾病中所描述的脂质谱改变。脂质组学分析揭示了疾病特异性改变，支持脂质信号传导在黑素生成生理病理机制中的关键作用。这些发现为疾病发病机制提供了见解，并有望发现色素紊乱的生物标志物和创新治疗策略。
