title: The ontogenesis of skin and organ characteristics in the Syrian golden hamster. I. Skin compartments and subcutaneous adipocytes.
abstract: The quantitative relations between the 4 skin compartments [epidermis, stratum (str.) papillare, str. reticulare, panniculus carnosus], the hair follicle density and adipocyte size were investigated histometrically in a total of 464 golden hamsters of both sexes of the acromelanic white inbred strain Bio 1.5 and agouti coloured outbred strain Han:AURA. The overall regular course of ontogenesis from the 1st to the 365th day of life showed discontinuous impairments of the skin layer thickness in the shoulder and sacral region due to the spontaneous growth cycles of hair. Active phases of hair growth could be determined on days 15-25, 50-60 and 80-110 from measurements of the hair follicle density as well as skin thickness. In particular, the thickness of the str. reticulare was closely correlated to the growth cycles. By contrast, the epidermis, str. papillare and skin muscle thickness showed an age-dependent development. Also, no correlation was found between the size of inguinal adipocytes and hair growth cycle, which is in contrast to the data from the literature for small laboratory rodents. Only differences in skin muscle thickness could be found in the sites studied in the shoulder and sacral regions. Overall, the skin compartments, the skin follicle density and adipocyte size were found to be stable to effects such as animal strain, sex and skin localization.
authors.affiliation: Central Animal Laboratory, University of Essen, FRG.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Militzer
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirche
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moog
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology; D006224:Cricetinae; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D024510:Muscle Development; D009132:Muscles / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena