Local oestriol treatment improves the structure of elastic fibers in the skin of postmenopausal women.

The effect of local oestriol treatment on the abdominal skin was studied in 14 postmenopausal women. Six control patients received a similar ointment without oestriol. The duration of the treatment in all cases was three weeks. The elastic fibers in the papillary dermis were thickened, better orientated and slightly increased in number in half of these patients but in none of the control patients. The epidermal thickness was slightly increased in four of the patients treated with oestriol. No significant changes were observed in the epidermal cell size, mitotic activity, dermal vascularization or inflammatory infiltrate between the specimens taken before and after the treatment or between the treatment groups.