Skin Changes at the Time of the Climacteric

The variation in cervical hydroxyproline and cervical water with age

The squamocolumnar junction is frequently not visible in the postmenopausal patient. This study attempts to identify some of the changes in the cervix that may account for this observation. Twenty-four cervical biopsy samples taken at the squamocolumnar junction were analysed for hydroxyproline (collagen) and water content. There was significantly more hydroxyproline (collagen) in the premenopausal woman than the postmenopausal woman. Similarly, there was higher percentage of water in the biopsies in the premenopausal woman than the postmenopausal woman. Further samples obtained deeper in the cervical stroma did not confirm these differences. It appears likely that differences in cervical water and cervical collagen near the surface of the cervix account, at least in part, for the lack of visibility of the squamocolumnar junction in the older woman.

Sex hormones and skin collagen content in postmenopausal women

Skin biopsy specimens were taken from 29 postmenopausal women who had not been given hormone replacement therapy and from 26 women who had been treated with oestrogen and testosterone implants for two to 10 years. The mean hydroxyproline content and therefore the mean collagen content in the skin was found to be 48% greater in the treated than the untreated women, who were matched for age. This difference was significant (p less than 0.01). The implication of this finding is that oestrogen or testosterone, or both, prevents the decrease in skin collagen content that occurs with aging and protects skin in the same way as it protects bone in postmenopausal women.