Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2018 Oct 8;89(3):408-410.
doi: 10.23750/abm.v89i3.7060.

Linezolid-induced black hairy tongue

Cesare Braggio  1 , Giovanni Bocchialini, Luigi Ventura, Paolo Carbognani, Michele Rusca, Luca Ampollini
Affiliations
Case Reports

Linezolid-induced black hairy tongue

Cesare Braggio et al. Acta Biomed. .

Abstract

Black hairy tongue (BHT) is a self-limiting disorder characterized by abnormal hypertrophy and elongation of filiform papillae on the surface of the tongue. The exact mechanism of drug-induced BHT is unknown. Several factors have been implicated and included smoking or chewing tobacco, drinking alcohol, poor oral hygiene and antibiotics such as tetracyclines and penicillins. We report a quite uncommon case of Linezolid-induced BHT in a patient with a long-lasting history of chest wall infection.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Black discoloration of the tongue with elongated filiform papillae occurred during linezolid therapy
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Two weeks after linezolid discontinuation, patient’s tongue return to normal
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Thompson DF, Kessler TL. Drug-induced black hairy tongue. Pharmacotherapy. 2010;30:585–593. - PubMed
    1. Manabe M, Lim HW, Winzer M, Loomis CA. Architectural organization of filiform papillae in normal and black hairy tongue epithelium: dissection of differentiation pathways in a complex human epithelium according to their patterns of keratin expression. Arch Dermatol. 1999;135:177–181. - PubMed
    1. Khasawneh FA, Moti DF, Zorek JA. Linezolid-induced black hairy tongue: a case report. J Med Case Rep. 2013;7:46–49. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Balaji G, Maharani B, Ravichandran V, Parthasarathi T. Linezolid induced black hairy tongue. Indian J Pharmacol. 2014;46:653–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jover-Diaz F, Cuadrado-Pastor JM, Talents-Bolos A, Martin-Gonzalez C. Black tongue associated with linezolid. Am J Ther. 2010;17:115–7. - PubMed

Publication types

Supplementary concepts