DNA flow cytometry of human epidermis: interindividual and regional variations in normal skin

Flow cytometrical measurements of individual nuclear DNA content in single nuclei suspensions prepared from normal skin of twenty leg ulcer patients aged 36–87 were used to study the variability in the fractions of cells with 2–4c DNA‐content (S‐fraction) and 40 DNA‐content (G2+ M‐fraction). No significant changes were found in these cell kinetic parameters in tower abdominal skin, as assessed by age and sex. However, the females, all being postmenopausal, exhibited wider variability in values than males, particularly in the G2+ M fraction. Significant regional differences were found in the S‐fraction, with higher values for the extensor surface of the forearm than for the thigh and lower abdominal skin.