Exploratory study to evaluate two clinical methods for assessing moisturizing effect on skin barrier repair

Abstract

BackgroundTwo clinical methods of assessing a moisturizer's effect on stratum corneum (SC) barrier repair were evaluated in female subjects with dry skin, to identify an assessment method for future studies.MethodsIn this single‐centre, split‐body study, women with dry skin applied moisturizer before (method A) or after (method B) SC barrier perturbation using D‐Squame® stripping discs. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and residual protein on D‐Squame discs were assessed over 14 days.ResultsTwenty‐four subjects were included. For method A, the mean slope values of plots of 1/TEWL vs cumulative protein removed decreased over time for both treated and untreated areas, indicating improved SC barrier quality. There were no significant differences between treated and untreated areas, although a trend to a more negative slope was observed by Day 14 in the treated areas (P = 0.082), suggesting treatment improved barrier quality. For method B, using pre‐ and post‐stripping as covariates, no statistical differences/trends were observed between treated and untreated areas for change in TEWL from post‐stripping to any evaluation from Days 3‐14. TEWL values returned towards pre‐stripping values for treated and untreated areas by the initial Day 3 evaluation.ConclusionFor method A, there were trends suggesting the moisturizing treatment improved SC barrier quality. For method B, there were no significant differences/trends between treated and untreated areas. Further assessment with different methodologies is warranted to design appropriate clinical protocols for evaluating accelerated skin barrier repair. These data are insufficient to conclude whether the product or methodology was responsible for the results.

The Association between the Level of Advanced Glycation End Products and Objective Skin Quality Parameters

“…The skin quality assessment was conducted by the same experienced investigator using the MP6 skin quality evaluation instrument (Courage + Khazaka GmbH, Cologne, Germany). This instrument evaluates several skin qualities with noninvasive probes [ 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) as an objective indication of skin barrier function and was estimated using the Tewameter ® TM 300.…”

A Portable Ultrawideband Confocal Raman Spectroscopy System with a Handheld Probe for Skin Studies

“…A preliminary tape stripping experiment was conducted on a 30 year old healthy male volunteer’s volar forearm (the 2 cm × 2 cm region was marked) with informed consent, in conjunction with CRS measurement to investigate mechanical and compositional SC variation under physical disruption. To verify the result, transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was used to correlate with the obtained Raman data in this study as it was found to be closely related to skin barrier function and inversely proportional to SC thickness. , A commercial TEWL device (VapoMeter, Delfin) was used to record the evaporation rate value in g/m 2 h followed by CRS measurement. The integration time for each wavelength was 5 s at each depth.…”

“…To verify the result, transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was used to correlate with the obtained Raman data in this study as it was found to be closely related to skin barrier function and inversely proportional to SC thickness. 18,19 A commercial TEWL device (VapoMeter, Delfin) was used to record the evaporation rate value in g/m 2 h followed by CRS measurement. The integration time for each wavelength was 5 s at each depth.…”