Measurement of the amounts of elastic fibers in the skin and temporal arteries of healthy aged individuals by automated image analysis.
BACKGROUND
A quantitative study of dermal and arterial elastic fibers as a function of age was carried out by computerized image analysis.


OBJECTIVE
We investigated whether any parallelism can be established between the morphometric parameters of elastic fibers from the skin and the temporal artery in elderly subjects.


METHODS
we quantitated the skin elastic fibers of the reticular dermis and the elastic fibers of the temporal artery using a specific staining procedure followed by automated image analysis in 16 subjects of age range 63-87 years.


RESULTS
There was a good correlation between the area fraction occupied by the elastic fibers in the unexposed skin (inner part of the upper arm) and aging (r = 0.669, p < 0.01). The area fraction occupied by elastic fibers in unexposed skin was correlated with the area fraction occupied by elastic fibers in the deep part of the temporal artery (r = 0.498, p < 0.05). Actinic elastosis affected both tissues, but there was no correlation between the amount of elastotic material in the exposed skin and the area fraction of elastic fibers in the superficial part of the temporal artery.


CONCLUSIONS
We provided evidence that in sun-protected tissues the area fraction occupied by elastic fibers in dermis and deep part of the temporal artery showed a significant correlation. We proposed that skin biopsies were a valuable diagnostic tool for predicting arterial wall abnormalities of elastic fibers.
Gogly
B
B
Laboratoire de Physiopathologie des Tissus non Minéralisés, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, Université Paris V, Montrouge, France.
Godeau
G
G
Septier
D
D
Hornebeck
W
W
Pellat
B
B
Jeandel
C
C
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D004547:Elastic Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012867:Skin / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000528:radiation effects; D013472:Sunlight; D013699:Temporal Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology*