RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DERMATO-PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES AND HORMONAL STATUS IN PRE-MENOPAUSAL, PERI-MENOPAUSAL, AND POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN

We previously reported that hormonal changes in perimenopausal women a re associated with dermatologic changes. In the present study, we eval uated such dermatologic changes by means of dermato-physiological test ing methods in perimenopausal women with various types of hormonal con ditions. The study group consisted of 46 consecutive women 41-70 years of age (mean, 54.0 years), attending a climacteric outpatient clinic for a healthy check-up is whom no abnormalities were recognized. The w omen were divided into four groups according to menstrual history and sex-related steroid hormone values: a premenopausal group (n = 9); a p erimenopausal group (n = 8); an early menopausal group, in which 5 yea rs or less had elapsed since menopause (n = 12); and a late menopausal group, in which 6 years or more had elapsed since menopause (n = 17). We found that: (1) after menopause the sebum cutaneum content of the forehead decreased significantly, but that of the subocular region was unchanged; (2) the water content of the stratum corneum of the forehe ad was significantly higher in the late menopausal group than in the p remenopausal group and the perimenopausal group, but there were no sig nificant differences among the four groups at the other sites studied; (3) on psychological stimulation, sweat production was found to decre ase significantly after menopause; (4) the skin temperature of the for ehead and cheek fell significantly after menopause, but that of the no se, back of the foot, and tips of the toes, did not differ significant ly among the four groups; (5) The perimenopausal period was associated with increased skin permeability and vascular responsiveness; (6) fin gertip plethysmography revealed significant decreases in peripheral ci rculatory function in the perimenopausal group and the late menopausal group. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.