Histological changes in the skin occurring in Antarctica

Abstract

Studies in human acclimatization to cold have covered a wide range of generalized effects. Skin studies have included changes in vascular responses, and two-point discrimination. Hitherto there have not been any observations as to whether a cold environment induces structural alterations in the skin ofan acclimatization nature as distinct from cold injury. The skin over the dorsum of the hand and lower abdomen of 10 subjects was biopsied in Melbourne and after 6–11 mth in Antarctica. The epidermis of the hand showed a highly significant (<i>P</i><0,001) increase in the number of epidermal cells in Antarctica compared with those in Melbourne. The layers of granular cells increased from 1 to 3 or 4. The abdominal skin epidermis was thinner than that of the hand and showed no increase in cellularity in Antarctica. Initially the hand dermis had less elastica than that of the abdominal skin and this decreased in Antarctica for most subjects, whereas the elastica of the abdominal skin did not change. No changes in vascularity or in sweat glands were observed at either site. It is concluded that the thickening of the epidermis and loss of elastica is a local response to cold, the hands, of necessity, being intermittently exposed. The absence of changes in the abdominal skin indicates that a cold environment does not exert a systemic effect on skin structure.