Morphometric analysis of human epidermis treated with testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone in organ culture

The influence of testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHA) on human epidermal differentiation in skin organ culture were studied with quantitative light and electron microscopic morphometric methods. The hormones had equal effects on the general tissue architecture at the concentrations of 10(-7) mol/l: they had a negligible effect on the thickness of the vital and cornified layers of epidermis, and on the type of keratinization, but caused a significant increase in the number of granular cells. The electron microscopic stereologic analyses showed that testosterone did not alter the size of either vital or cornified epidermal cells. Neither did it influence the quantities of major keratinocyte organelles (keratin filaments, desmosomes, ribosomes, mitochondria) in the different epidermal strata. However, the amounts of keratohyalin granules and keratinosomes were significantly higher in testosterone-treated granular cells than in controls. Qualitative electron-microscopic analysis of DHA-treated skin showed a similar change in the amount of keratohyalin granules and keratinosomes. The present findings suggest that although androgenic hormones exert little or no direct anabolic effect on epidermis, they may modulate keratinocyte maturation.