TREATMENT OF MELANIN HYPERPIGMENTATION

Abnormal increases in melanin pigmentation of the skin have always presented a difficult problem to man because of their cosmetic and social significance. Disfiguring pigmentation of the exposed areas may have important and lasting effects on the emotional well-being of the patient. In addition, the quantity of melanin in the skin may determine the status of a person in a given society. To our knowledge little stimulus for the study of the mechanism of melanin formation has resulted from attempts to explain or modify the great variations in pigment seen in different races. Rather, the stimulus for investigation has come from observations on abnormal subjects including patients with Addison's disease, vitiligo, and hyperpigmentation of pregnancy, and from attempts to explain melanin production in plants, insects, and marine animals. As a result of these studies, much is known of the process by which the amino acid tyrosine is catalytically oxidized by