High correlation between skin color based on CIELAB color space, epidermal melanocyte ratio, and melanocyte melanin content

PeerJ

article

Kuo-Hsing Ma¹  Jiang-Chuan Liu¹  Niann-Tzyy Dai²  Wen-Shyan Huang³  Yi-Wen Wang¹  Kun-Che Hung²  Pai-Shan Hsieh²  Keng-Yen Fu²  Lien-Guo Dai⁴  Nien-Hsien Liou¹ 

[1] Department of Biology and Anatomy, National Defense Medical Center;Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center;Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Zuoying Branch of Kaohsiung Armed Forces General Hospital;Department of Orthopedics, Shuang Ho Hospital, Taipei Medical University

关键词: Hypopigmentation;    Color reader;    CIELAB color space;    Skin tissue engineering;    Pigment cell;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.4815

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundTo treat skin color disorders, such as vitiligo or burns, melanocytes are transplanted for tissue regeneration. However, melanocyte distribution in the human body varies with age and location, making it difficult to select the optimal donor skin to achieve a desired color match. Determining the correlations with the desired skin color measurement based on CIELAB color, epidermal melanocyte numbers, and melanin content of individual melanocytes is critical for clinical application.MethodFifteen foreskin samples from Asian young adults were analyzed for skin color, melanocyte ratio (melanocyte proportion in the epidermis), and melanin concentration. Furthermore, an equation was developed based on CIELAB color with melanocyte ratio, melanin concentration, and the product of melanocyte ratio and melanin concentration. The equation was validated by seeding different ratios of keratinocytes and melanocytes in tissue-engineered skin substitutes, and the degree of fitness in expected skin color was confirmed.ResultsLinear regression analysis revealed a significant strong negative correlation (r =  − 0.847, R2 = 0.717) between CIELAB L* value and the product of the epidermal melanocyte ratio and cell-based melanin concentration. Furthermore, the results showed that an optimal skin color match was achieved by the formula.DiscussionWe found that L* value was correlated with the value obtained from multiplying the epidermal melanocyte ratio (R) and melanin content (M) and that this correlation was more significant than either L* vs M or L* vs R. This suggests that more accurate prediction of skin color can be achieved by considering both R and M. Therefore, precise skin color match in treating vitiligo or burn patients would be potentially achievable based on extensive collection of skin data from people of Asian descent.

【 授权许可】

CC BY