Epidermal Barrier Protects against Age-Associated Systemic Inflammation.

Skin provides barrier protection for the body, but aging disrupts epidermal barrier function. Hu et al. show that disruption of the epidermal barrier increases serum cytokine levels partly because of increased cytokine production by the skin. They then show that restoring epidermal barrier function in aged mice reduces circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines.