The cell kinetics of the epidermis and follicular epithelium of the rat: variations with age and body site

The skin from rats of differing age was used to quantify variations in the cell kinetics of the epidermis and the follicular epithelium of different body sites. Four parameters were assessed, namely the basal cell density (BCD), the labelling index (LI), the duration of DNA synthesis (ts) and the basal cell turnover time (tT). The BCDs of the epidermis of the dorsum and the upper surface of the foot were similar in rats of 7, 14 and 52 weeks of age, but there was an indication of a progressive decline with increasing age in the BCD of the epidermis of the ear and tail. There were no age-related changes in the length of ts in any of the four body regions. The rate of cell proliferation, as indicated by the values of the LI and tT, was relatively rapid in the epidermis of the dorsum, foot and tail of rats aged 7 weeks (LI greater than 12%; tT less than 80 h). In rats aged 14 weeks this rate of proliferation was maintained in the epidermis of the dorsum. However, in the foot and tail the rate of cell proliferation was decreased (LI less than 10%; tT greater than 85 h). A fall in the rate of proliferation of the epidermis of the dorsum was only seen in 52-week-old animals. In these animals the rates of proliferation in the foot and tail were similar to those at the age of 14 weeks. In the epidermis of the ear there was no appreciable change in the rate of cell proliferation with age. The values of the cell kinetic parameters varied in the different body sites. For example, in 52-week-old animals values for tT were relatively short in the epidermis of the tail and foot and appreciably longer in the epidermis of the dorsum and ear. Considered overall, values for the cell kinetic parameters of the epidermis were comparable with those for the follicular epithelium. The only major differences between the epidermis and the follicular epithelium were in the upper surface of the foot at 7 weeks of age, and in the tail at 7 and 14 weeks of age, where the LI was higher and the tT shorter in the epidermis than in the follicular epithelium. The relevance of the observed age- and body-site-related variations in the cell kinetics of the epidermis are discussed in relation to previously described differential changes in the radiosensitivity of the skin in this strain of rat.