Metabolism of Rat Skin in Vitro With Special Reference to Effect of Body Size on Tissue Metabolism

¹ From the Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California

The metabolism of skin from the dorsal surface of the feet of rats was studied in vitro. No slicing was necessary for the tissue was thinner than the limiting thickness permitting adequate diffusion of oxygen at 37.5°C. The Qo2 of skin was determined in various media and was found to be related to the body weight of the rat. The QN2G of skin was also determined and also varied with body weight. The mean water content of the foot skin was 70.2% of the initial wet weight. Skin from 76 rats ranging in weight from 36 to 398 gm showed a correlation of 0.78 between Qo2 and body weight; the regression of log Qo2 on log weight was –0.366. The regression of log QN2G on log weight was –0.305. The significance of these relationships is discussed.