1999/01/01 by Anne Bouloc, Gaston Godeau, J Zeller +3 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Medicine · Chemistry · #Dermatological and Skeletal Disorders #Connective tissue disorders research #Sympathectomy and Hyperhidrosis Treatments #Cutis laxa #Elastase #Medicine #Fibroblast #Pathology #Pancreatic elastase #Histology #Dermatology #Chemistry #In vitro #Enzyme
paper · doi:10.1159/000018146
openalex publication_date 1999/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
BACKGROUND: Acquired cutis laxa is a rare disease characterized by sagging skin, premature wrinkling and reduced skin elasticity. OBSERVATION: We report a 21-year-old woman, who presented with acquired cutis laxa on the face and the ear lobes. Urticarial papules had preceded for 6 years. There was no systemic involvement. Skin specimens were obtained from lax skin and urticarial papules, and from healthy controls. Histology showed only few perivascular lymphocytes in lax ear skin and a dense inflammatory infiltrate in urticarial skin. In both biopsies elastic fibres were decreased as demonstrated by computerized morphometric analyses. Elastase activities of fibroblasts in culture were evaluated. There was a 2- to 3-fold increase in elastase activity in urticarial skin fibroblasts, contrasting with a normal elastase activity in lax ear skin. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that the inflammatory cells could play a significant role in the destruction of elastic fibres.