Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of age, sex, and breed on the composition of free extractable ceramides in the stratum corneum of healthy dogs

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Veterinary Research Communications Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ceramide (CER), an important component of the extracellular lamellar lipids in the stratum corneum (SC), plays a critical role in maintaining the cutaneous barrier function. This study aimed to determine whether the quantity of free extractable SC CERs in dogs was affected by the age, sex, or breed. Fifty-eight dogs from the breeds Shiba Inu, beagle, miniature dachshund, shih tzu, and golden retriever, without any history of skin problems, were enrolled in this study. Lipid extracts from the SC were subjected to high-performance thin-layer chromatography to quantify the free extractable CERs. There were weak negative correlations between the age and the amount of free extractable CERs, CER [NP] (non-hydroxy fatty acids linked to phytosphingosines), CER [AS/NH] (α-hydroxy fatty acids linked to sphingosines/non-hydroxy fatty acids linked to 6-hydroxysphingosines), and CER [AP] (α-hydroxy fatty acids and phytosphingosines). There were no significant sex- or breed-related differences in the amounts of free extractable SC CERs in the dogs. These findings imply that aging causes a decline in the amount of free extractable SC CERs in dogs, similar to that observed in humans. The sex or breed of the dogs investigated in this study did not influence the amount of free extractable SC CERs.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data generated and analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

References

  • Denda M, Koyama J, Hori J, Horii I, Takahashi M, Hara M, Tagami H (1993) Age- and sex-dependent change in stratum corneum sphingolipids. Arch Dermatol Res 285:415–417

  • Farwanah H, Wohlrab J, Neubert RH, Raith K (2005) Profiling of human stratum corneum ceramides by means of normal phase LC/APCI-MS. Anal Bioanal Chem 383:632–637

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Feingold KR, Elias PM (2014) Role of lipids in the formation and maintenance of the cutaneous permeability barrier. Biochim Biophys Acta 184:280–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Imokawa G, Abe A, Jin K, Higaki Y, Kawashima M, Hidano A (1991) Decreased level of ceramides in stratum corneum of atopic dermatitis: an etiologic factor in atopic dry skin? J Invest Dermatol 96:523–526

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Indra AK, Leid M (2011) Epidermal permeability barrier measurement in mammalian skin. Methods Mol Biol 763:73–81

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ishikawa J, Narita H, Kondo N, Hotta M, Takagi Y, Masukawa Y, Kitahara T, Takema Y, Koyano S, Yamazaki S, Hatamochi A (2010) Changes in the ceramide profile of atopic dermatitis patients. J Invest Dermatol 130:2511–2514

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen JM, Förl M, Winoto-Morbach S, Seite S, Schunck M, Proksch E, Schütze S (2005) Acid and neutral sphingomyelinase, ceramide synthase, and acid ceramidase activities in cutaneous aging. Exp Dermatol 14:609–618

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jin K, Higaki Y, Takagi Y, Higuchi K, Yada Y, Kawashima M, Imokawa G (1994) Analysis of Beta-Glucocerebrosidase and Ceramidase Activities in Atopic and Aged Dry Skin. Acta Derm Venereol 74:337–340

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jungersted JM, Høgh JK, Hellgren LI, Jemec GB, Agner T (2010a) Ethnicity and stratum corneum ceramides. Br J Dermatol 163:1169–1173

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Jungersted JM, Hellgren LI, Høgh JK, Drachmann T, Jemec GB, Agner T (2010b) Ceramides and barrier function in healthy skin. Acta Derm Venereol 90:350–353

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Masukawa Y, Narita H, Shimizu E, Kondo N, Sugai Y, Oba T, Homma R, Ishikawa J, Takagi Y, Kitahara T, Takema Y, Kita K (2008) Characterization of overall ceramide species in human stratum corneum. J Lipid Res 49:1466–1476

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nishifuji K, Yoon JS (2013) The Stratum Corneum: The Rampart of the Mammalian Body. Vet Dermatol 24:60–72

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motta S, Monti M, Sesana S, Mellesi L, Ghidoni R, Caputo R (1994) Abnormality of water barrier function in psoriasis. Role of Ceramide Fractions 130:452–456

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ponec M, Weerheim A, Lankhorst P, Wertz P (2003) New acylceramide in native and reconstructed epidermis. J Invest Dermatol 120:581–588

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Popa I, Thuy LH, Colsch B, Pin D, Gatto H, Haftek M, Portoukalian J (2010) Analysis of free and protein-bound ceramides by tape stripping of stratum corneum from dogs. Arch Dermatol Res 302:639–644

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rabionet M, Gorgas K, Sandhoff R (2014) Ceramide synthesis in the epidermis. Biochim Biophys Acta 1841:422–434

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rawlings AV (2006) Ethnic skin types: are there differences in skin structure and function? Int J Cosmet Sci 28:79–93

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reiter LV, Torres SM, Wertz PW (2009) Characterization and quantification of ceramides in the nonlesional skin of canine patients with atopic dermatitis compared with controls. Vet Dermatol 20:260–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers J, Harding C, Mayo A, Banks J, Rawlings A (1996) Stratum corneum lipids: the effect of ageing and the seasons. Arch Dermatol Res 288:765–770

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shimada K, Yoon JS, Yoshihara T, Iwasaki T, Nishifuji K (2009) Increased transepidermal water loss and decreased ceramide content in lesional and non-lesional skin of dogs with atopic dermatitis. Vet Dermatol 20:541–546

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoon JS, Nishifuji K, Ishioroshi S, Ide K, Iwasaki T (2013) Skin lipid profiling in normal and seborrhoeic shih tzu dogs. Vet Dermatol 24:84–89

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoon JS, Nishifuji K, Sasaki A, Ide K, Ishikawa J, Yoshihara T, Iwasaki T (2011) Alteration of stratum corneum ceramide profiles in spontaneous canine model of atopic dermatitis. Exp Dermatol 20:732–736

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Young LA, Dodge JC, Guest KJ, Cline JL, Kerr WW (2002) Age, breed, sex and period effects on skin biophysical parameters for dogs fed canned dog food. J Nutr 132:1695S-1697S

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science with grant number JP25292179. This work was also funded by Kao cooperation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 3-5-8 Saiwai-cho, Fuchu, Tokyo, 183-8509, Japan

    Ji-Seon Yoon, Ako Sasaki, Kenichiroh Shimada, Kaori Ide, Toshiroh Iwasaki & Koji Nishifuji

Authors
  1. Ji-Seon Yoon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ako Sasaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kenichiroh Shimada
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kaori Ide
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Toshiroh Iwasaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Koji Nishifuji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors have made considerable contributions to this work. Conceptualization: Toshiroh Iwasaki; Methodology: Ji-Seon Yoon, Ako Sasaki; Formal analysis and investigation: Ji-Seon Yoon, Ako Sasaki, Kenichiroh Shimada, Koji Nishifuji; Writing—original draft preparation: Ji-Seon Yoon, Koji Nishifuji; Writing – review and editing: Ji-Seon Yoon, Ako Sasaki, Kenichiroh Shimada, Kaori Ide, Toshiroh Iwasaki, Koji Nishifuji.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Koji Nishifuji.

Ethics declarations

Statement of animal ethics

Institutional animal ethics guidelines were followed for the experiments. Study animals were subjected to minimum stress. The Animal Research Committee of the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology approved the animal experiments (No. 21–21).

Consent to participate

All participating dog owners were provided informed consent before inclusion in this study.

Consent for publication

All authors gave their consent for research publication.

Conflicts of interest/Competing interests

The authors have no conflicts of interests to declare relevant to this manuscript's content.

Additional information

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (JPG 185 KB)

Supplementary file2 (DOCX 23 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yoon, JS., Sasaki, A., Shimada, K. et al. Effects of age, sex, and breed on the composition of free extractable ceramides in the stratum corneum of healthy dogs. Vet Res Commun 46, 121–126 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-021-09835-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11259-021-09835-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation