The Organ-Maintained Human Sebaceous Gland
January 1998
in “
Dermatology
”
TLDR Human sebaceous glands can grow normally for a week without certain growth factors, and adding estrogen reduces their oil production without affecting cell growth.
The study found that human sebaceous glands maintained in a medium without epidermal growth factor (EGF) and phenol red showed in vivo rates of cell division and lipogenesis, as well as preserved morphology, over a period of 7 days. These conditions could be reversed with the re-addition of EGF and phenol red. The introduction of 600 pM 17β-oestradiol significantly decreased lipogenesis over 7 days without affecting cell division, likely due to abnormal differentiation of sebocytes. Testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, at 1 nM concentrations, did not impact cell division or lipogenesis over the same period. However, 1 μM 13-cis-retinoic acid significantly reduced lipogenesis over 7 days.
