Aged :epidermis displays altered drug permeability, increased
susceptibility to irritatnt contact dermatitis and often severe zeros's,
suggesting compromise of the aged epidermal barrier. Barrier recovery
in young was compared VS aged rabbits. The barrier was perturbed with
acetone. The harrier recovered more slowlv in aged than in young
rabbits. Electron microscopy revealed large numbers of newly farmed
lamellar bodies, .filled with abundant lipid in the stratum granuloswn of
young epidermis after 3h. of barrier disruption. In the aged there also
was abundant lamellar body formation, but these structures were not
replete with lipid and many contained only few bilayer structuresThe
distribution of stratum corneum lipids before and after barrier disrutpion
showed that the reaccumulation of lipid in the stratum come= was more
rapid in young than aged epidermis. |
