Vernix caseosa

For the town in France, see Vernix, Manche.

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Vernix, also known as Vernix caseosa, is the "waxy" or "cheesy" white substance found coating the skinof newbornhumans. It is secreted by the fetus's sebaceous glandsin utero, and is hypothesized to have antibacterial properties. The word "smegma" is occasionally used to describe vernix.

Vernix is composed of sebum (the oil of the skin) and cells that have sloughed off the fetus' skin.

External link

• PubMed articles on Vernix caseosa

fr:Vernix it:Vernix pl:Vernix

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernix+caseosa Wikipedia article Vernix caseosa.