The cytokinetics of epidermal and dermal cells was examined in 16 patients with subacute or chronic allergic contact dermatitis and 11 with atopic dermatitis. In allergic contact dermatitis a H3-thymidine-labelling index (H3-1) of 4.55 +/- 2.4% was found in the epidermis and of 0.7 +/- 0.44% in the dermal infiltrate. In comparsion, in atopic dermatitis the values were 5.5 +/- 2.31% in the epidermis and 0.93 +/- 0.72% in the dermis. The DNA-synthesis-time (ts) was lengthened slightly with 11.4 +/- 2.4 h in allergic contact dermatitis and 11.75 +/- 3.68 h in atopic dermatitis. In comparsion with normal skin, the cell-cycle-time (tc) was slightly shortened in allergic contact dermatitis (244 +/- 110 h) and in atopic dermatitis (233 +/- 83 h). There was no significant difference between both types of dermatitis regarding cytokinetics.

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