Water-Holding Lipid and Water Transmission Through Homeothermic and Poikilothermic Skins

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Abstract
Water transmission was measured through isolated human, rabbit, marine fish, and frog skins. The water transmission rate of fish and frog skins approximates free evaporation of water, and is 6 to 20 times greater than in mammalian skins. Human and rabbit skins contain a hexane-soluble lipid which appears to be the major regulator of passive water holding. This hexane-extractable lipid was not detected in the fish or frog skin. Burned mammalian skin contained 30% or less of the normal water-holding lipid and transmitted up to 4 times more water than intact skin. Water transmission by the surfaces examined was inversely proportional to the water-holding lipid content of the surface. The postburn decrease of hexane-extractable lipid in burned mammals was associated with production of a surface which closely resembles the skin of poikilotherms in water transmissivity and thermoregulatory capability. The maintenance of homeothermia may therefore be, in part, related to the presence of water-holding lipid in the skin.

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