Anonychia is the failure to form
fingernails or toenails.
It is an anomaly which may be the result of a congenital
ectoderm
The ectoderm is one of the three primary germ layers formed in early embryonic development. It is the outermost layer, and is superficial to the mesoderm (the middle layer) and endoderm (the innermost layer). It emerges and originates from the o ...
al defect,
ichthyosis
Ichthyosis is a family of genetic disorder, genetic skin disorders characterized by Xeroderma, dry, Scleroderma, thickened, scaly skin. The more than 20 types of ichthyosis range in severity of symptoms, outward appearance, underlying genetic cau ...
, severe infection, severe
allergic contact dermatitis
Allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is a form of contact dermatitis that is the manifestation of an allergic response caused by contact with a substance; the other type being irritant contact dermatitis (ICD).
Although less common than ICD, ACD ...
, self-inflicted
trauma,
Raynaud phenomenon,
lichen planus
Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disease that affects the skin, nails, hair, and mucous membranes. It is not an actual lichen, but is named for its appearance. It is characterized by polygonal, flat-topped, violaceous p ...
,
epidermolysis bullosa, or severe exfoliative diseases.
Cause
This is rare and is usually due to mutations in the R-spondin 4 (
RSPO4) gene which is located on the short arm of
chromosome 20
Chromosome 20 is one of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in humans. Chromosome 20 spans around 66 million base pairs (the building material of DNA) and represents between 2 and 2.5 percent of the total DNA in cells. Chromosome 20 was fully sequenced i ...
(20p13).
[Khan TN, Klar J, Nawaz S, Jameel M, Tariq M, Malik NA, Baig SM, Dahl N (2012) Novel missense mutation in the RSPO4 gene in congenital hyponychia and evidence for a polymorphic initiation codon (p.M1I). BMC Med Genet 13(1):120]
See also
*
List of cutaneous conditions
Many skin conditions affect the human integumentary system—the organ system covering the entire surface of the Human body, body and composed of Human skin, skin, hair, Nail (anatomy), nails, and related muscle and glands. The major function o ...
References
External links
{{Congenital malformations and deformations of skin appendages
Conditions of the skin appendages
Nails (anatomy)