Age-related changes in skin topography and microcirculation

Abstract

Skin topography and microvasculature undergo characteristic changes with age. Although several non-invasive bioengineering methods are currently available to measure them quantitatively, few publications have referred to their relationship with age in different anatomical sites. This study was carried out to observe the age-related changes of the skin topography and skin microcirculation. The microrelief was assessed with special processing software from scanning by interference fringe profilometry of silicone replicas performed on two sites (volar forearm and back of hand) on 50 female volunteers (aged 20-74 years who consisted of ten probands in each decade). The superficial vascular network of both sites was assessed by videocapillaroscopy, and the subpapillary vascular plexus was studied with laser Doppler flowmetry. Skin color, which is affected by blood flow, was observed by colorimeter. The skin roughness and the mean height between peak and valley increased with age. There were statistically significant differences between the evaluated sites. This study also shows that the capillary loops in the dermal papillae decrease but the subpapillary plexus increase with age. The interference fringe profilometry associated with videocapillaroscopy may be useful and accurate to measure the efficacy of medical or cosmetic products to delay skin aging.

Dry skin conditions are related to the recovery rate of skin temperature after cold stress rather than to blood flow

“…21 Age-related changes in topography occur in skin with decreased numbers of capillary vessels. 22 However, it is still unclear whether cutaneous blood flow and the reactivity to cold stress is related to dry skin conditions in healthy adults. Here, we used the CST to examine the systemic cutaneous blood flow responsiveness to cold stress.…”

Skin Surface Topography and Texture Analysis of Sun-Exposed Body Sites in View of Sunscreen Application

“…Skin micro-relief and wrinkles are manifestations of different etiology which in combination produce the overall skin roughness [1,2]. Roughness was found to be greater in aged compared to young skin at different anatomical sites including volar forearm, back of the hand, periorbital area, and temple [3,4,5,6], while results were conflicting for the lower leg [7]. Roughness was reported to vary significantly between different sites, being largest in the posterior neck and smallest in the upper back and lower leg, while only minor differences between genders and races were shown [8,9].…”

“…Although fast and convenient direct methods that are appropriate for the clinical setting have been developed based on interference fringe profilometry and the use of CCD cameras [26,27,28], the preparation of replicas remains the most frequently used technique with a vast body of data available [3,4,5,8,10,12,13,17,18,29,30,31]. The advantages of the replica technique are simple and rapid sample preparation, reproducibility and precision, and the possibility to store the replica for repeated measurements [24,25].…”

Chronological Age Affects the Permeation of Fentanyl through Human Skin in vitro

“…These changes are not only a consequence of intrinsic aging but also related to the cumulative exposure to extrinsic harm, such as sunlight or smoking, during a lifespan. Chronologically aged skin appears thinner [1], paler, rougher [2] and drier [3] compared to young skin. The dry skin is caused by alterations of the stratum corneum lipid barrier [4] as the stratum corneum lipid content decreases with age [5] and the lipid composition changes [3].…”