Premium
Water: Its form, function and importance in the skin of domestic animals
Author(s) -
Chesney C. J.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of small animal practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1748-5827
pISSN - 0022-4510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-5827.1993.tb02612.x
Subject(s) - medicine , microclimate , function (biology) , fauna , barrier function , relevance (law) , balance (ability) , ecology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , political science , law
Water is vital to life, and to the function of individual organs, yet its relevance to the skin of animals has received almost no attention. The barrier function of the skin is recognised, as is the importance of surface dwelling organisms, but the links between them are little known. Understanding, however, must begin with a consideration of the molecular structure of water and how this affects both physical and biophysical processes. Such processes critically influence the barrier and are fundamental to the way water passes through the skin, or is bound within it. At the skin surface a characteristic flora and fauna live in microclimate niches modulated by a varying water balance, itself modified by the presence of a hair coat. In normal animals the skin remains healthy despite a wide range of insults; a homoeostasis which would be rewarding to understand.