title: New finding that might explain why the skin wrinkles more on various parts of the face.
abstract: The mechanism of formation of facial wrinkles has not been fully clarified due to the existence of many distinct influential factors. To clarify the relationship between facial wrinkles and structures in the skin, especially sebaceous glands, image analysis was performed on the forehead and lateral canthus regions of cadaveric skin specimens; 58 male and female donated cadavers (age range at death 20s - 90 s) were included in the study. Specimens were obtained from forehead and lateral canthus region after measuring wrinkle depth. Then tissue slices were prepared to observe the sebaceous gland and its density was measured and analyzed in relation to wrinkle depth, retinacula cutis density, dermal thickness, and solar elastosis degree. A correlation was found between sebaceous gland density and wrinkle depth in forehead specimens with a lower retinacula cutis density. Wrinkles were shallower in specimens with a higher sebaceous gland density. However, no such correlation was found in lateral canthus wrinkles, presumably due to the lack of sebaceous glands in that region. In addition, specimens with a higher sebaceous gland density tended to have a thicker dermis and/or less solar elastosis. Sebaceous gland density seems to be one of the multiple factors that prevent wrinkle deepening, and that is why wrinkles are deeper in the lateral canthus area than in the forehead. Functional studies will elucidate the mechanism of wrinkle formation in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gross Anatomy, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tamatsu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gross Anatomy, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazue
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsukahara
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, Jichi Medical University, Tochigi, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.affiliation: Department of Gross Anatomy, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002102:Cadaver; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D015595:Skin Aging; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: anatomy; cadaver; dermis; eyelids; forehead; sebaceous glands; skin aging