Skin aging: lessons from cutis laxa and elastoderma.

Several lines of evidence suggest that elastic fibers provide resilience to normal human skin, and that abnormalities in elastin may be the primary event leading to the clinical appearance of aged skin. Innately aged skin exhibits a paucity and fragmentation of elastic fibers, while actinically damaged skin consists of an abnormal accumulation of elastotic material within the dermis. Cutis laxa and elastoderma are two cutaneous diseases that manifest as selective alterations in elastic fibers. Clinical and histopathologic findings in these diseases are similar to those found in cutaneous aging. Thus, it appears that alterations in the quantity and/or quality of the elastic fibers may contribute to age-associated cutaneous changes.