Cutaneous vascular changes in women in reference to the menstrual cycle and ovariectomy

Abstract

The skin of trunk and limbs of three ovariectomized and five normal young women was studied with the Hardy recording spectrophotometer. In both groups of subjects the pigments of the skin were unchanged excepting reduced hemoglobin and oxyhemoglobin. Results in the hands and feet were inconclusive, and the face was not studied.

After ovariectomy, the sexual characteristics of the female skin do not disappear, suggesting a genic control. A diminution in vascularity is noted, evidenced by lowering of the amount of hemoglobin with a relative preponderance of the reduced form. Administration of estrogen was followed by an increased cutaneous blood flow with an actual increase in oxyhemoglobin. Progestin markedly increased the proportion of oxyhemoglobin, but did not consistently increase the total hemoglobin. The combined administration of both hormones results in a diminution in hemoglobin with a predominance of the reduced form.

In the early part of the normal cycle, the curves resemble those obtained from ovariectomized subjects. After mid-cycle, there is evidence of greatly increased vascularity which reaches a maximum in the premenstrual period. This is consistent with the observed effects of the two hormones acting in the latter half of the cycle, since previous workers have shown that progestin takes several days to modify estrogen effect.

Unlike the situation in many other mammals, in which reactivity to the female sex hormones is localized in special areas, the human skin probably reacts in its entirety.