SKIN
Dr. NADEEM
SKIN
The skin is the largest organ of the
body and is as indispensable as the
body's other major organs.
The skin is divided into two main parts:
Epidermis
Dermis
The two layers are further
differentiated by their respective
amounts of hair follicle, pigmentation,
cell formation, gland makeup, and
blood supply.
These layers are present in the two
general types of skin, thin and hairy,
and thick and hairless.
The former is more prevalent on the
body, while the latter is found on parts
of the body that are used heavily and
experience extreme friction, like the
EPIDERMIS
The epidermis is a stratified
epithelium whose cells become
flattened as they mature and rise to
the surface.
The principal cell of the epidermis is
called a keratinocyte.
On the palms of the hands and the
soles of the feet, the epidermis is
extremely thick, to withstand the wear
and tear that occurs in these regions.
In other areas of the body, for
example, on the anterior surface of
the arm and forearm, it is thin.
SUBDIVISIONS OF EPIDERMIS
The epidermis is subdivided into five
layers or strata.
1. Stratum germinativum
2. Stratum spinosum
3. Stratum granulosum
4. Stratum lucidum
5. Stratum corneum
STRATUM GERMINATIVUM
The stratum germinatum (SG) provides
the germinal cells necessary for the
regeneration of the layers of the
epidermis. These germinal cells are
separated from the dermis by a thin
layer of basement membrane. After a
mitotic division a newly formed cell will
undergo a progressive maturation
called keratinization as its migrates to
the surface.
STRATUM SPINOSUM
The cells that divide in the statum
germinativum soon begin to
accumulate many desmosomes on
their outer surface which provide the
characteristic “prickles” of the stratum
spinosum (SS), which is often called
the prickle-cell layer.
STRATUM GRANULOSUM
The progressive maturation of a
keratinocyte is charcterized by the
accumulation of keratin, called
keratinization. The cells of the stratum
granulosum (SGR) accumlate dense
basophilic keratohyalin granules .
These granules contain lipids, which
along with the desmosomal
connections, help to form a waterproof
barrier that functions to prevent fluid
STRATUM LUCIDUM
Epidermis varies in thickness
throughout the body depending mainly
on frictional forces and is thickest on
the palms of the hands and soles of the
feet. The stratum lucidum is normally
only well seen in thick epidermis and
represents a transition from the
stratum granulosum to the stratum
corneum.
STRATUM CORNEUM
As a cell accumulates keratinohyalin granules, it is
thought that rupture of lysosomal membranes
release lysosomal enzymes that eventually cause
cell death. The dead and dying cells filled with
mature keratin form the stratum corneum (SC).
The deeper cells of the stratum corneum retain
their desmosomal junctions, but as they are
pushed to the surface by newly forming cells of the
stratum germinativum (SG), the dead cells
gradually break apart and are lost, a process called
desquamation.
THE DERMIS
composed of dense connective tissue
containing
Blood vessels,
Lymphatic vessels,
Nerves.
shows considerable variation in
thickness in different parts of the body,
Tending to be thinner on the anterior
than on the posterior surface.
It is thinner in women than in men.
Subdivisions Of Dermis
Papillary dermis
Reticular dermis
PAPILLARY DERMIS
The papillary dermis (PD) contains
vascular networks.
Have two important functions.
1. Provide vital nutrients for epidermis
2. Thermoregulation
Also have free nerve endings in the
highly sensitive area.
RETICULAR DERMIS
Consists of dense irregular connective
tissue,
Is important in giving the skin it overall
strength and elasticity
As well as housing other important
epithelial derived structures such as
glands and hair follicles.
SKIN APPENDAGES
skin-associated structures that serve a
particular function including sensation,
contractility, lubrication and heat loss.
The skin contains a variety of appendages,
mainly
1. Nails
2. Hair Follicles
3. Sweat Glands
4. Sabaceous glands
NAILS
The nails are keratinized plates on the
dorsal surfaces of the tips of the fingers
and toes.
The proximal edge of the plate is the root of
the nail.
With the exception of the distal edge of the
plate, the nail is surrounded and overlapped
by folds of skin known as nail folds.
The surface of skin covered by the nail is
the nail bed.
HAIRS
Grow out of follicles, which are
invaginations of the epidermis into the
dermis
The follicles lie obliquely to the skin surface,
and their expanded extremities, called hair
bulbs, penetrate to the deeper part of
the dermis.
Each hair bulb is concave at its end,
The concavity is occupied by vascular
connective tissue called hair papilla.
A band of smooth muscle, the arrector
pili, connects the undersurface of the
follicle to the superficial part of the dermis.
Innervated by smooth muscles
Pull of the muscle also causes dimpling of
the skin surface, so-called gooseflesh.
SEBACEOUS GLANDS
pour their secretion, the sebum, onto
the shafts of the hairs as they pass up
through the necks of the follicles.
situated on the sloping undersurface of
the follicles and lie within the dermis.
Sebum is an oily material that
helps preserve the flexibility of the
emerging hair.
SWEAT GLANDS
Long, spiral, tubular glands distributed
over the surface of the body, except on
the red margins of the lips, the nail
beds, and the glans penis and clitoris
Extend through the full thickness of the
dermis, and their extremities may lie in
the superficial fascia.
The most deeply penetrating structures
of all the epidermal appendages.
TYPES OF SWEAT GLANDS
Two types of sweat glands
1. Apocrine sweat glands:
Pour their secretions in the hair
follicles. smelly glands. Mostly present
at armpit and inguinal area
2. eccrine glands:
Pour their secretions direct onto the
skin
Present all the body
SUBCUTANEOUS TISSUE OR FASCIA:
lie between the skin and the under
lying muscles and bones.
divided into two types—
superficial deep
SUPERFICIAL FASCIA
unites the dermis of the skin to the
underlying deep fascia.
DEEP FASCIA
The deep fascia is a membranous
layer of connective tissue that
invests the muscles and other deep
structures
THE END
