The Number of Stratum corneum Cell Layers Correlates with the Pseudo-Absorption of the Corneocytes

Abstract

The removal of the stratum corneum (SC) using adhesive tapes is a common technique in cutaneous studies. The determination of the varying amounts of the SC removed would be a helpful tool in such investigations. In the present study, the cell layers of porcine SC were counted before and after removal of several tape strips using histological techniques. In addition, the pseudo-absorption of the corneocytes reflecting the amount of these cells was determined using spectroscopy. Different amounts of SC were removed using 20 tape strips. The spectroscopically determined data correlate linearly with the number of removed cell layers. Based on these results, the pseudo-absorption of the corneocytes can be used to calculate the absolute number of cell layers removed with a standard deviation of less than 11%. In this way, the SC can be quantified using the procedure of tape stripping in combination with the spectroscopic determination of the corneocytes.

Distribution of Bacteria in the Epidermal Layers and Hair Follicles of the Human Skin

“…The extinction value retrieved from the measurement of each tape reflected the amount of corneocytes attached to the adhesive tape. These experiments proved that each single tape stripping procedure led to the removal of one single corneocyte layer [17] .…”

“…In previous experiments [16,17] , corneocytes were removed by a sequential tape stripping procedure of the epidermis and photospectroscopically analyzed (Lambda 20, Perkin Elmer) at 430 nm. The extinction value retrieved from the measurement of each tape reflected the amount of corneocytes attached to the adhesive tape.…”

Skin Efficacy and Biophysical Assessment of Glycerol-Containing Hydrocolloid Patches

“…The occurrence of skin complications due to repeated application of adhesives to volar forearm skin has already been reported [36] . Cumulative amounts of stripped corneocytes increase with these repetitive applications and might be due to the nature of the patch material and/or the applied mechanical forces to remove the patches from the skin [15,[37][38][39] .…”

Decontamination of the Skin with Absorbing Materials

“…The removed tape strips contain approx. 1 cell layer of corneocytes and the corresponding part of topically applied substance localized within this cell layer [23] . The amount of stratum corneum removed with a single tape strip can be easily determined spectroscopically by determining the pseudo-absorption at 430 nm [24,25] , whilst the concentration of the penetrated formulation was analyzed by the absorption of the UV filter octylmethoxycinnamate at 310 nm [26] .…”

“…The upper horizontal lines represent the skin surface; the lower horizontal lines correspond to deeper parts of the stratum corneum. Jacobi et al [23] determined the pseudo-absorption value, which corresponds to one cell layer of corneocytes. This relation was used to present in the penetration profile the amount of stratum corneum removed with the single tape strip in numbers of cell layers.…”