Measurement of the Amounts of Elastic Fibers in the Skin and Temporal Arteries of Healthy Aged Individuals by Automated Image Analysis

Background: A quantitative study of dermal and arterial elastic fibers as a function of age was carried out by computerized image analysis. Objective: We investigated whether any parallelism can be established between the morphometric parameters of elastic fibers from the skin and the temporal artery in elderly subjects. Methods: we quantitated the skin elastic fibers of the reticular dermis and the elastic fibers of the temporal artey using a specific staining procedure followed by automated image analysis in 16 subjects of age range 63–87 years. Results: There was a good correlation between the area fraction occupied by the elastic fibers in the unexposed skin (inner part of the upper arm) and aging (r = 0.669, p < 0.01). The area fraction occupied by elastic fibers in unexposed skin was correlated with the area fraction occupied by elastic fibers in the deep part of the temporal artery (r = 0.498, p < 0.05). Actinic elastosis affected both tissues, but there was no correlation between the amount of elastotic material in the exposed skin and the area fraction of elastic fibers in the superficial part of the temporal artery. Conclusion: We provided evidence that in sun-protected tissues the area fraction occupied by elastic fibers in dermis and deep part of the temporal artery showed a significant correlation. We proposed that skin biopsies were a valuable diagnostic tool for predicting arterial wall abnormalities of elastic fibers.