Age-related changes in skin topography and microcirculation

Skin topography and microvasculature undergo characteristic changes with age. Although several non-invasive bioengineering methods are currently available to measure them quantitatively, few publications have referred to their relationship with age in different anatomical sites. This study was carried out to observe the age-related changes of the skin topography and skin microcirculation. The microrelief was assessed with special processing software from scanning by interference fringe profilometry of silicone replicas performed on two sites (volar forearm and back of hand) on 50 female volunteers (aged 20–74 years who consisted of ten probands in each decade). The superficial vascular network of both sites was assessed by videocapillaroscopy, and the subpapillary vascular plexus was studied with laser Doppler flowmetry. Skin color, which is affected by blood flow, was observed by colorimeter. The skin roughness and the mean height between peak and valley increased with age. There were statistically significant differences between the evaluated sites. This study also shows that the capillary loops in the dermal papillae decrease but the subpapillary plexus increase with age. The interference fringe profilometry associated with videocapillaroscopy may be useful and accurate to measure the efficacy of medical or cosmetic products to delay skin aging.