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The Organization of Human Epidermis: Functional Epidermal Units and Phi Proportionality

2003; Elsevier BV; Volume: 121; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1046/j.1523-1747.2003.12606.x

1523-1747

Steven B. Hoath, D.G. Leahy,

Allergic Rhinitis and Sensitization

In earlier work, we have proposed a rational structure for human epidermis in which the various epidermal strata are organized in a phi proportional manner (Hoath and Leahy, 2002Hoath S.B. Leahy D.G. Formation and function of the stratum corneum.in: Marks R. The Essential Stratum Corneum. Martin Dunitz, London2002: 31-40Crossref Google Scholar). Specifically, optimal epidermal structure exhibits stratification into four segments containing 1, 4, 9, and 16 cell layers each. The strategic position of the Langerhans cells in the "midepidermis" is interpreted to mark the interface between the 2nd and 3rd epidermal strata. The intraepidermal location of the Langerhans cells therefore is taken to be a better functional marker than the presence or absence of morphologic criteria such as intracellular granules. The ratio of the theoretical time for stratum corneum turnover (22.4 h) to the empirically measured time (21 h)=1.066667. Where 16 is the number of layers in the stratum corneum, 30 is the total number of layers in the epidermis as a whole, 14 is the time in days for stratum corneum replacement, and 28 is the time in days for replacement of the entire epidermis: