TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in photo-aged human skin following topical application of all-trans retinoic acid
AU - Rosenthal, Dean S.
AU - Roop, Dennis R.
AU - Huff, Carol A.
AU - Weiss, Jonathan S.
AU - Ellis, Charles N.
AU - Hamilton, Ted
AU - Voorhees, John J.
AU - Yuspa, Stuart H.
PY - 1990/11
Y1 - 1990/11
N2 - Although topical applications of retinoids on rodents and humans have been shown to cause epidermal hyperplasia, a detailed study of the influence of retinoids on epidermal differentiation in vivo has not been performed. In order to assess the pharmacologic effects of chronic topical tretinoin application used to improve the appearance of patients with photoaged skin, cutaneous biopsies from 25 patients in a controlled clinical study were examined histologically and immunocytochemically. Chronic application of tretinoin causes epidermal thickening (25 of 25 samples), stratum granulosum thickening (15 of 25), parakeratosis (13 of 25), a marked increase in the number of cell layers expressing epidermal transglutaminase (13 of 25), and focal expression of two keratins, K6 (12 of 25) and K13 (8 of 25), not normally expressed in the epidermis. The morphologic changes correlated with immunohistochemical abnormalities; neither of these correlated with the subjective cosmetic response. Three major epidermal differentiation products, keratins Kl, K10, and K14 were not altered, within the limits of the methods used. Thus, chronic topical tretinoin reprograms some, but not all, aspects of human epidermal differentiation in vivo.
AB - Although topical applications of retinoids on rodents and humans have been shown to cause epidermal hyperplasia, a detailed study of the influence of retinoids on epidermal differentiation in vivo has not been performed. In order to assess the pharmacologic effects of chronic topical tretinoin application used to improve the appearance of patients with photoaged skin, cutaneous biopsies from 25 patients in a controlled clinical study were examined histologically and immunocytochemically. Chronic application of tretinoin causes epidermal thickening (25 of 25 samples), stratum granulosum thickening (15 of 25), parakeratosis (13 of 25), a marked increase in the number of cell layers expressing epidermal transglutaminase (13 of 25), and focal expression of two keratins, K6 (12 of 25) and K13 (8 of 25), not normally expressed in the epidermis. The morphologic changes correlated with immunohistochemical abnormalities; neither of these correlated with the subjective cosmetic response. Three major epidermal differentiation products, keratins Kl, K10, and K14 were not altered, within the limits of the methods used. Thus, chronic topical tretinoin reprograms some, but not all, aspects of human epidermal differentiation in vivo.
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U2 - 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12504718
DO - 10.1111/1523-1747.ep12504718
M3 - Article
C2 - 1700022
AN - SCOPUS:0025222290
SN - 0022-202X
VL - 95
SP - 510
EP - 515
JO - Journal of Investigative Dermatology
JF - Journal of Investigative Dermatology
IS - 5
ER -