Premium
SOME LIGHT MICROSCOPICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE STRATUM CORNEUM OF THE GUINEA‐PIG, MAN AND COMMON SEAL
Author(s) -
SPEARMAN R. I. C.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2133.1970.tb15745.x
Subject(s) - stratum corneum , seal (emblem) , dermatology , guinea pig , medicine , art , pathology , visual arts
SUMMARY The stratum corneum of the guinea‐pig back and of human upper arm epidermis, in formalin fixed tissue, is divisible under the light microscope into conjunctum and disjunctum sub‐layers. The former is without discernible intracellular or intercellular spaces. It is stained uniformly with eosin and is rich in both bound phospholipids and bound sulphydryl groups. The disjunctum sub‐layer shows dorso‐ventral intercellular spaces and large intra‐cellular spaces due to removal of unfixed soluble constituents of the keratinocytes by water, ethanol and xylene during histological processing. Osmium tetroxide precipitates many soluble chemical constituents so that the horny cells stain uniformly black. Large intracellular spaces in the disjunctum cells were shown by osmium staining in the guinea‐pig horny layer, which has been previously leached experimentally in petroleum ether, ethanol and water. The stratum corneum of the common seal resembles the abnormal human parakeratotic layer in not showing intracellular spaces in eosin‐stained sections. It is suggested that the thick phospholipid‐rich horny layer in the seal may improve the waterproofing ability of the epidermis.