Skin aging in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease of different ages

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by exaggerated systemic inflammation that affects different body systems including the skin. Skin aging is a reported consequence. Patients and methods The study recruited 40 patients with COPD in addition to 60 healthy controls. Although all patients with COPD were smokers, controls comprised 27 smokers and 33 nonsmokers. Participants were classified according to their ages into younger age group ( 40 years, n=63). All patients were subjected to careful history taking, thorough clinical examination, and pulmonary function testing at the time of skin biopsy. COPD diagnosis and grading of severity was based on the GOLD criteria. Dermatological examination included identification of skin type according to Fitzpatrick skin type classification, skin aging grade, and histopathological examination. Results In the younger group, COPD subgroup had significantly larger mean elastic fiber area, length, and perimeter when compared with the other two subgroups. In the older age group, the patients with COPD and control smokers’ subgroups had significantly larger total elastin fibers area when compared with nonsmokers. In both age groups, it was found that patients with severe/very severe COPD had significantly larger total elastic fibers area when compared with patients with moderate disease. Conclusions The present study found significant relation between skin aging and both smoking and COPD. The study noted that this relation may be affected by patients’ age.