Histochemistry of succinate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and NADPH tetrazolium reductase in human skin: II. Regional differences in histochemical activity

Abstract

In the first paper of this series it was shown that post-mortem autolysis had no repercussion on the histochemical reactions of succinate dehydrogenase, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and NADPH-tetrazolium reductase of the skin and its appendages, unless decomposition was very advanced. We also described the histotopography of the skin for each of these enzymes. With the use of the same material, qualitative and semi quantitative methods, we have compared the relative intensity of the histochemical reactions of three particularly hairy regions of the body, viz. the scalp, axilla and pubis. The samples examined came from 31 bodies, both male and female, and from a number of surgical biopsies. Most of the dermoepidermic structures and their appendages showed no significant differences in enzymatic activity from one region to another. Certain structures, however, showed significant or even highly significant regional differences. This is particularly the case for glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and NADPH. The results of a statistical study of the semiquantitative data usually confirmed those of the qualitative data: the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and NADPH predominates in the scalp and is often greater in the axilla than in the pubis; for the succinate dehydrogenase, only the hair matrix showed regional variations, in favour of the scalp. These variations are discussed in the light of the literature. It is concluded that the study of regional variations in enzymatic activity is not only of interest for the dermatologist but also of medicolegal interest since it may contribute to the identification of small fragments of skin, more particularly if they come from the axilla or pubis.