Changes in Epidermal Morphology Associated with Dandruff

OBJECTIVE: Dandruff is a very common scalp condition characterized by flaking and pruritus usually with no visible signs of inflammation, such as redness and erythema. Dandruff is considered a multifactorial condition with both microbial colonization and host factors such as sebum production thought to play a role. There is evidence of changes in epidermal morphology in the scalp skin of dandruff sufferers, with reports of an increase in mean thickness and more nucleated cell layers. The underlying mechanisms driving these morphological changes are currently unclear. The objective of this study was to fully characterize epidermal morphology in dandruff compared to healthy scalp skin and to evaluate potential mechanisms underlying any changes observed. CONCLUSION: Il s'est produit des changements significatifs dans la morphologie epidermique de la peau avec lesions et pellicules, par comparaison a la peau du cuir chevelu en bonne sante, y compris un epaississement de l’epiderme, une jonction dermo-epidermique plus compliquee et un allongement des cretes du reseau. Fait interessant, nous avons decouvert des signes d'augmentation du pourcentage de cellules epidermiques Ki67-positives, ce qui n'avait encore jamais ete rapporte, et qui demontre que la presence de pellicules est une affection affichant une hyper-proliferation epidermique. RESULTS: Histochemical analysis of skin sections revealed that in dandruff lesional samples, the epidermis was thicker, had a more convoluted dermal epidermal junction and the rete ridges were elongated, compared to healthy scalp skin. Similar directional changes in epidermal morphology, were observed in non-lesional dandruff samples, albeit to a lesser extent. Image analysis of Ki67 expression in the epidermis revealed dandruff lesional skin contained significantly more Ki67-positive proliferating keratinocytes than healthy controls samples. This suggests dandruff scalp skin epidermal keratinocytes are in a hyper-proliferative state. CONCLUSION: There were significant changes in epidermal morphology in dandruff lesional skin compared to healthy scalp skin including increased epidermal thickness, a more convoluted dermal-epidermal junction and elongation of rete ridges. Interestingly, we found there was evidence of an increase in the percentage of epidermal Ki67-positive cells, which has not been reported previously, and demonstrates dandruff is a condition displaying epidermal hyper-proliferation.