Size of corneocytes and non-keratinized superficial cells of the human oral mucosa at different ages.

The surface area and the longest diameter of gingival and palatal corneocytes and of superficial alveolar mucosa cells were assessed morphometrically. From a total of 92 subjects (46 males, 46 females) 5 to 75 years of age, cells of each class were collected by either the strip method or the imprint technique. The nuclear and cytoplasmic profiles and the diameter of about 30 cells per class and subject were drawn and scanned with a MOP-I system (Kontron, Zürich). Average data collected for 8 groups of males and females of increasing age demonstrated that with respect to the two parameters neither corneocytes nor exfoliating alveolar mucosa cells changed in size with increasing age, ther was no general difference in cell size between the sexes, and gingival corneocytes with retained nuclei were slightly larger than those without nuclei, particularly in males. These observations are in contrast to those reported for epidermal corneocytes.