Korean J Dermatol.  1996 Oct;34(5):753-756.

Apoptotic Keratinocytes in Acrodermatitis Enteropathica

• Park YL
• Whang KU
• Bang SW
• Kim YK
• Yu HJ
• Son SJ

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The cause of acrodermatitis enteropathica(AE) is closely related to zinc deficiency. Zinc is a potent inhibitor of endonuclease. Acute rises in the apoptosis in lymphoid and myeloid cell lines during zinc deficiency has recently been reported. The method of terminal transferase mediated dUTP biotin nick end labeling(TUNEL) is used in situ labelling of apoptotic nuclei in routine tissue sections.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to clarify our hypothesis that apoptosis resulted from zinc deficiency might cause keratinocytes damages in AE. METHOD: We stained 6 AE biopsy specimen with TUNEL technique.
RESULTS
In acroderrratitis enteropathica, apoptotic keratinocytes were shown in the entire epidermis as compared to normal, controlled skin, in which it was found only at the uppermost layer of this stratified epithelium.
CONCLUSION
This result suggests that apoptosis resulting from zinc deficiency might play a role in keratinocyte death in AE.

Keyword

Apoptosis; TUNEL; Zinc deficiency

MeSH Terms

Acrodermatitis*
Apoptosis
Biopsy
Biotin
Epidermis
Epithelium
In Situ Nick-End Labeling
Keratinocytes*
Myeloid Cells
Skin
Transferases
Zinc
Biotin
Transferases
Zinc