Regional differences of the healthy skin

Abstract

As one of our most important barrier organs, our skin has complex functions, both to connect us with the outside world and to protect us from its harmful effects. According to literature data, skin barrier can be divided into 4 functional units: microbial, chemical, physical and immunological barriers. The microbial and chemical barriers have been previously shown to exhibit different characteristics in topographically distinct skin regions. The research group at the Department of Dermatology, University of Debrecen, Hungary, has investigated whether the physical and immunological barriers also show differences in different skin areas. This article summarises the working group’s research on this topic, which demonstrated that, in addition to the microbial and chemical barriers, the other two barriers also differ in distinct skin regions. These differences may explain the characteristic localisation of certain region-specific skin diseases.