Abstract
Lip redness is unique to humans and creates an important facial impression, but this redness decreases with age. Here, using histological and immunohistological staining of human upper lip vermilion from donors of different ages, we investigated blood vessels in the upper lip dermis and age-dependent histological changes. We found that both total vessel area in the dermis and vessel number in the upper dermis decreased with aging. Moreover, vessel number in the upper dermis correlated positively with development of rete ridges, which flattened with age, despite no significant change in the thickness of the stratified squamous epithelium. These findings suggest that age-related reductions in lip redness result from a decrease of blood vessels, which in turn leads to a flattening of the epithelium caused by the loss of rete ridges. This is the first study to histologically demonstrate age-related reductions in blood vessels in the lip. Our results provide an opportunity for enhancing blood flow/vascularization to improve the aesthetic appearance of the lips in the elderly.
Highlights
The highly visible reddish vermilion of the labium oris is unique to humans
The vermilion zone was detected as the intermediate zone between the lip skin, which contains the keratinized epidermis, hair follicles, sebaceous glands and the hypodermal fat, and the intraoral labial mucosa, which contains the hypodermal fat and the glandulae labiales on the side beyond the rima oris
The present study demonstrated overall deterioration of the blood vessels in the upper lip dermis with aging
Summary
The highly visible reddish vermilion of the labium oris (lip surrounding the mouth) is unique to humans. The area of vermilion makes up only a small fraction of the total facial area, the redness of the vermilion profoundly affects the impressions of others. A redder vermilion lightens the perceived complexion [1], and a red vermilion increases the facial attractiveness of female Caucasian faces [2, 3]. The redness of the vermilion is an important factor affecting interpersonal impressions and face-to-face communication. This makes it an attractive subject for dermatological investigators, in the field of aesthetics. The redness of the vermilion decreases significantly with age [4]
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