A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF WORKERS WITH OCCUPATIONAL EXPOSURE TO PETROLEUM DERIVATIVES

Abstract

Human involucrin (hiNV) is an early cytoplasmatic protein of the cornified cell envelope (1, 2) that is considered as a marker of normal keratinocyte differentiation and maturation (3,4). In keratinocytes the formation of the cornified cell envelope is needed to enable skin to withstand physical, mechanical and chemical agents ( 5) . In normal orthokeratinized body, hiNV expression begins in the upper spinous layer coincident with cell flattening (6); however deeper epidermal staining for hiNV has been described in hyperproliferative and diseased epidermis ( 5) . [...]