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Karger Publishers, Dermatology, 2(223), p. 131-139, 2011

DOI: 10.1159/000330737

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Stereological Estimation of Epidermal Volumes and Dermo-Epidermal Surface Area in Normal Skin

This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

Quantitative morphological studies of the healthy epidermis are essential in providing a range of parameter estimates that can be considered within the range of normality. Stereology is a set of statistical tools that provides potentially unbiased and precise estimates of 3-dimensional tissue characteristics from 2-dimensional sections. We set out to establish reference values for the volume of the viable epidermis contained within a four-millimetre punch biopsy (V<sub>epi</sub>), the volume of the stratum corneum (V<sub>SC</sub>) and the surface area of the dermo-epidermal junction(A<sub>DEJ</sub>) in 4 predetermined body regions by use of stereology. Four-millimetre punch biopsies were taken from 20 freshly diseased corpses, fixed in formalin and embedded in paraffin. V<sub>epi</sub>, V<sub>SC</sub> and A<sub>DEJ</sub> were established stereologically for all 4 body locations followed by pairwise comparison of means after Bonferroni correction. V<sub>epi</sub> was significantly larger in the sole compared to all other body locations (p < 0.01). Furthermore, linear regression analysis showed a strong linear relationship between V<sub>epi</sub> and V<sub>SC</sub> in the sole (r = 0.70). Our results suggest that the viable layers of the epidermis might also serve a mechanical function, either directly or by providing the stratum corneum with keratinocytes to support the hyperkeratosis in the weight-bearing parts of the skin.