Structural and histochemical aspects of epidermis development of fetal porcine skin

Abstract

Epidermal development of fetal porcine skin was studied in fetuses from 41 days of gestation until birth with scanning and electron microscopy techniques as well as histochemical methods, including immunohistochemistry. The porcine fetus develops a relatively thick and solid multilayered cover of epidermal cells, which is not lost before birth. It consists of tightly packed cells of the periderm and the stratum intermedium. The periderm cells are totally filled with filamentous proteins; in the intermediate cells, the filamentous proteins are concentrated in the cell periphery, forming a thick marginal zone. Immunohistochemically, the cytofilaments could be identified as cytokeratins of lower and higher molecular weights. The first thin stratum corneum lamellae are formed below the stratum intermedium at about 80-85 days of gestation.

Quantitating the Percutaneous Absorption of Mechanistically-Defined Chemical Mixtures

“…Finally, a recent study has confirmed the potential for dermal toxicity as these fuels were shown to cross the epidermal barrier for potential access to the systemic circulation . The use of pig skin in dermatotoxicological research has been widely accepted due to its morphological and physiological similarities to human skin (Bartek et al, 1972;Meyer et al, 1986;Monteiro-Riviere, 1986;Simon and Maibach, 2000). Furthermore, the use of keratinocyte cell cultures have been gaining acceptance as an alternative to animal studies for such research (Roguet, 1998;Bernstein and Vaughan, 1999).…”

Indirect Immunohistochemistry and Immunoelectron Microscopy Distribution of Eight Epidermal-Dermal Junction Epitopes in the Pig and in Isolated Perfused Skin Treated with Bis (2-Chloroethyl) Sulfide

“…Porcine skin is morphologically (17,19,20,26) and histochemically (16,33,42) similar to human skin and has been utilized as a model for the study of percutaneous absorption and toxicity ( 1,31 ). The IPPSF, an alternative in vitro model, is morphologically similar to human skin (22) and correlates well to in vivo (5,40) and human absorption (34) data.…”

Dermatological Effects of Chronic Exposure to 7,12-Dimethylbenz[A]Anthracene (DMBA) or N-Methyl-N-Nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) in Swine

“…This later study demonstrates the need to corroborate in other species some of the information generated by the murine model and suggests that the swine models can more accurately reflect humans skin than other mouse or in vitro studies. More specifically, the porcine integument is morphologically (23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31), histochemically (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33), biochemically, and biophysically similar to human skin and has been used as a model for drug toxicity and percutaneous absorption studies. Swine skin resembles human skin in having a sparse hair coat and a relatively thick epidermis with similar epidermal turnover kinetics, number of hair follicles, lipid composition and carbohydrate biochemistry, lipid biophysical properties, and the arrangement of dermal collagen and elastic fibers (34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41).…”