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Corneocyte Size and Cell Renewal: Effects of Aging and Sex Hormones

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Textbook of Aging Skin

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Abstract

Epidermal barrier function resides almost entirely in the outermost skin layer – stratum corneum (SC). Aging process results in certain structural and functional changes in SC morphology. The epidermis shows a linear decrease in thickness with age. The reduction in epidermal population size suggests that there may be also a decrease in the rate on production of epidermal cells and the apparent lengthening of the SC renewal time. The lengthening of the turnover implies a reduction in the desquamation rate, but this is not as large as thought. The reason for this might be the increase of corneocyte size during aging. There is a correlation and an inverse relationship between SC turnover and dimensions of corneocytes.

Sex hormones exhibit certain effects on SC structure and functions. A decreased sebum content of the forehead in menopausal women and higher SC hydration of the forehead in late menopausal women were observed. SC sphingolipid content and synthesis were decreased with the decrease of the effect of sex hormones with age. Aged epidermal permeability barrier shows decreased cohesion as well as delayed barrier repair with age under stress conditions. Significantly smaller corneocytes in premenopausal women vs. postmenopausal women or men were witnessed and are likely to be attributed to the different levels of female sex hormones. These effects were decreased when hormone replacement therapy was introduced in postmenopausal women.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Tokuda Hospital Sofia, 51b, “Nikola Vaptsarov” Blvd., 1407, Sofia, Bulgaria

    Razvigor Darlenski

  2. San Gallicano Dermatological Institute, Rome, Italy

    Enzo Berardesca

  3. Department of Dermatology, Charité University Clinic, Berlin, Germany

    Joachim W. Fluhr

Authors
  1. Razvigor Darlenski
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  2. Enzo Berardesca
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  3. Joachim W. Fluhr
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Razvigor Darlenski .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Miranda A. Farage

  2. Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Kenneth W. Miller

  3. Department Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, USA

    Howard I. Maibach

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Darlenski, R., Berardesca, E., Fluhr, J.W. (2015). Corneocyte Size and Cell Renewal: Effects of Aging and Sex Hormones. In: Farage, M., Miller, K., Maibach, H. (eds) Textbook of Aging Skin. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27814-3_36-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27814-3_36-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27814-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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