主观皮肤类型与皮肤屏障功能的关系

目的:比较不同主观皮肤类型(油性、中性和干性皮肤)屏障功能指标的差异。方法:利用无创性方法对自评为油性、中性和干性皮肤的20~25岁北京城市女性(各30例)进行皮脂分泌率(SER)、角质层含水量、p H值和经皮肤水分丢失(TEWL)值的检测,并采用胶带连续粘脱后监测TEWL值变化的方法评价角质层完整性,采用角质层取样蛋白定量的方法评价角质层黏合力和丝氨酸蛋白酶活性。结果:主观皮肤类型为中性皮肤者具有最佳的屏障功能;干性皮肤和油性皮肤者面颊部的屏障功能均有不同程度的受损,表现为TEWL值明显升高、p H值升高、丝氨酸蛋白酶活性增加;但二者也有区别,油性皮肤者角质层完整性下降更明显,而干性皮肤主要是角质层黏合力明显减弱。结论:自评为油性和干性皮肤者与中性皮肤者相比,屏障功能均存在一定程度的缺陷,油性皮肤与干性皮肤均具有不同特点,且与其屏障受损的机制不同有关。     

An improved human skin explant culture method for testing and assessing personal care products

Background

Cultured human skin models have been widely used in the evaluation of dermato-cosmetic products as alternatives to animal testing and expensive clinical testing. The most common in vitro skin culture approach is to maintain skin biopsies in an airlifted condition at the interface of the supporting culture medium and the air phase. This type of ex vivo skin explant culture is not, however, adequate for the testing of cleansing products, such as shampoos and body washes. One major deficiency is that cleansing products would not remain confined on top of the epidermis and have a high chance of running off toward the dermal side, thus compromising the experimental procedure and data interpretation.

Materials and Methods

Here, we describe an improved ex vivo method for culturing full-thickness human skin for the effective testing and evaluation of skin care products by topical application.

Results

This newly developed ex vivo human skin culture method has the ability to maintain healthy skin tissues for up to 14 days in culture. Importantly, the model provides a quick and safe way to evaluate skin care products at different time points after single or repetitive topical applications using a combined regimen of leave-on and wash-off. We found that the results obtained using the new skin culture method are reproducible and consistent with the data collected from clinical testing.

Conclusion

Our new ex vivo skin explant method offers a highly efficient and cost-effective system for the evaluation and testing of a variety of personal care products and new formulations.     

痤疮患者皮肤生理功能测定

目的 探讨痤疮患者面部皮肤生理功能的特点，以期指导痤疮患者的治疗。方法 选取受试对象120例，试验组为痤疮患者60例，其中男20例，女40例，平均年龄23.4岁；对照组为健康志愿者60例，其中男20例，女40例，平均年龄25.1岁。运用无创性皮肤生理功能测试仪，测量受试者的面颊及T区（油脂分泌旺盛区域）皮肤油脂、面颊皮肤弹性和水分。结果 试验组面部T区油脂量为（199.98 ± 58.21） μg/cm2，健康对照组为（117.55 ± 63.16） μg/cm2，两组差异有统计学意义（t = 7.34，P < 0.05）。试验组面颊油脂量为（154.45 ± 55.06） μg/cm2，健康对照组为（87.50 ± 47.36） μg/cm2，两组差异有统计学意义（t = 7.14，P < 0.05）。试验组皮肤弹性（0.7931 ± 0.0755R）与健康对照组（0.7882 ± 0.0498R）比较，差异无统计学意义（P > 0.05），试验组皮肤水分（30.75% ± 3.87%）与健康对照组（30.94% ± 2.91%）比较，差异也无统计学意义（P > 0.05）。结论 痤疮患者颜面皮肤油脂分泌过多。     

Age-dependent changes in skin surface assessed by a novel two-dimensional image analysis

Background/purpose: Skin microrelief has been studied using various methods and devices. However, the long duration of time needed to process one sample or the expensive equipment hampered the use of those systems for routine diagnosis. Today, the emergence of new software and hardware technologies may allow this issue to be resolved.
Methods: To characterize objectively the skin surface, we introduced a new parameter SPm , namely, the area mean of superficial skin texture block formed by primary and secondary lines crossing each other. Based on the skin detector produced by the Boseview Technology Company, we developed a software for acquiring automatically skin images and calculating SPm . The relationship between SPm and age was studied on the dorsal and ventral midway of the forearm (sun-exposed and sun-protected areas) of 94 healthy volunteers without a history of smoking.
Results: The skin surface topography can be conveniently quantified with the new parameter SPm . The value of SPm of both sites increases with age, independent of sex, with the site more exposed to light being more affected.
Conclusion: With the software developed, the details of the skin surface can be observed. SPm appears to be a new valid parameter for characterizing the property of the skin surface. Our method, alone or in combination with other technologies of skin topography analysis may be applied in routine diagnosis for a quantified evaluation of skin aging.     

Impact of defensins-containing body cream on skin composition

Background and Aims

Defensins are peptides capable of reactivating latent LGR6 stem cells in the basal layer. When applied topically, these peptides can reduce signs of skin aging and increase dermal thickness. This study investigates the effects of a topical defensin formulation on extremity skin composition.

Methods

An open label, single arm clinical trial was conducted on participants with dry, photoaged, or dull skin. A defensin-containing hand and body cream was applied twice daily for 6 weeks to the hands, forearms, elbows, and knees. Photographs and objective measurements of skin hydration, viscoelasticity (VE), retraction time (RT), thickness, density/transepidermal water loss (TEWL), as well as self-evaluation of skin quality and characteristics were obtained pre- and post- intervention.

Results

After the study period, RT decreased by 56% across all body sites (p < 0.001) and VE improved at the elbow (125%, p = 0.009) and knee (110%, p < 0.001). Skin density also increased in all 4 body sites (40%, p < 0.001), while skin thickness increased at the elbow (29%, p = 0.03) and knee (17%, p = 0.04). Skin hydration increased at the elbow, knee, and forearm by 99%, 28%, and 16%, respectively (p < 0.05), while TEWL improved at the elbow only (−39%, p = 0.02). Patients' self-evaluations showed improvements in overall skin quality and in the domains of dryness, ashiness, wrinkling, pigmentation, redness, roughness, and discomfort (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

Following 6-week use of a defensin-containing cream, subjects reported significant improvement across many subjective skin domains. Similarly, objective measurements demonstrated significant improvement in skin architecture at select sites.     

Formulation optimization, skin irritation, and efficacy characterization of a novel skin-lightening agent

Background Skin‐lightening preparations are used by people all over the world for a diverse range of dermatologic indications. The gold standard treatment for skin lightening is with hydroquinone but has been controversial because of the presence of several side effects. Therefore, there has been a constant search for developing new treatment alternatives. Furthermore, the new amendments and bans on animal testing by ECVAM have made the three‐dimensional models like EpiDerm^? and MelanoDerm^? increasingly popular. Objective This work aims at the formulation development for a new skin‐lightening agent, SMA‐012, followed by testing for skin irritation and efficacy. Methods Formulation parameters such as concentration of SMA‐012, amount of ethanol, effect of permeation enhancers and pH were first optimized using Franz cell experiments. Tape stripping and underlying skin assays were performed to analyze the amounts of SMA‐012 in different layers of skin. The irritation potential and efficacy of the screened formulation were evaluated using Epiderm^? and Melanoderm^? models. Results Skin permeation experiments suggested that concentrations of 0.1% SMA‐012, 35% ethanol, and pH of 8.5 to be the best formulation characteristics. This particular formulation was found to be nonirritant for short‐term exposure, when tested in Epiderm^? model and also significantly effective in decreasing the amount of melanin in pigmented skin equivalent models. Conclusion SMA‐012 shows a good promise as a skin‐lightening agent for cosmetic and therapeutic applications. Additionally, our study demonstrates the application of skin equivalent models as alternatives to animal testing in studying the regulation of skin pigmentation.     

Lesion classification using skin patterning

Background/aims: The observation that skin line patterning tends to be disrupted by malignant but not non‐malignant skin lesions suggests that this could be used as an aid to lesion differentiation. Since recognised differentiating features can be obtained from the simply‐captured white light optical image, the possibility of using such images for skin pattern disruption detection is worth exploring. Methods: The skin pattern has been extracted from optical images by high‐pass filtering and profiles of local line strength variation with the angle estimated using a new consistent high‐value profiling technique. The resultant profile images have been analysed using a novel region‐based agglomerative clustering technique (mRAC) and also a local variance measurement. A measure based on the relationship between the classification results and an intensity‐based segmentation was calculated, and this represented the disruption of the skin line patterning. Results: A set of images containing a variety of histologically confirmed malignant and non‐malignant lesions was analysed. The computed textural disruption figure was compared to both the histological diagnosis and to a visual estimate of patterning disruption for each image. It was demonstrated that lesion separation could be achieved by both analysis methods, with a good correlation with visual estimate of disruption and with mRAC providing the best performance. Conclusions: It was concluded that the acquisition and modelling of skin line patterning from clinical images of skin lesions had been successfully achieved and that the analysis of the resulting data provided an assessment of pattern disruption that is both consistent with visual inspection and effective in presenting information useful for discrimination between melanoma and benign naevi lesion examples.     

Paired unilateral scapular pits in a neonate

Congenital skin pits have been observed as a sporadic anatomic variant as well as in association with trauma, maternal infection, genetic syndromes, and metabolic disorders. We present a case of a neonate with paired unilateral scapular pits, which to our knowledge has not yet been reported. Although this is favored to be a benign finding in an otherwise healthy baby, we review important considerations in the clinical evaluation of a neonate with congenital skin pitting.     

The relationship between skin function,barrier properties,and body‐dependent factors

Background

Skin is a multilayer interface between the body and the environment, responsible for many important functions, such as temperature regulation, water transport, sensation, and protection from external triggers.

Objectives

This paper provides an overview of principal factors that influence human skin and describes the diversity of skin characteristics, its causes and possible consequences. It also discusses limitations in the barrier function of the skin, describing mechanisms of absorption.

Methods

There are a number of in vivo investigations focusing on the diversity of human skin characteristics with reference to barrier properties and body‐dependent factors.

Results

Skin properties vary among individuals of different age, gender, ethnicity, and skin types. In addition, skin characteristics differ depending on the body site and can be influenced by the body‐mass index and lifestyle. Although one of the main functions of the skin is to act as a barrier, absorption of some substances remains possible.

Conclusions

Various factors can alter human skin properties, which can be reflected in skin function and the quality of everyday life. Skin properties and function are strongly interlinked.

     

Glove powder affects skin roughness, one parameter of skin irritation

Most patients with immediate-type-hyper sensitivity to natural rubber latex (NRL) give a history of hand eczema. Susceptibility to allergens is increased by irritant hand eczema due to damage to the skin barrier. Therefore, especially for employees in medical or paramedical professions, reduction in skin irritation is of importance. The present study reports the effect of glove powder on skin roughness, one feature of skin irritancy. Skin replicas, performed before and after wearing different types of gloves, were evaluated by laser profilometry. Significant alteration of skin roughness was evident and determined by different factors. Use of unpowdered Biogel gloves on prepowdered hands results in an increase in skin roughness, in contrast to the use of Biogel gloves on hands without any pre-application. On the other hand, powdered Manex neoderm gloves show no influence on the skin structure, whereas powdered Peha taft gloves also increase the roughness of the skin. Other potential candidates causing skin morphology alteration could be the glove pH, rubber chemicals with irritant potential and other characteristics of gloves, which are already under investigation.     

Soybean-fragmented proteoglycans against skin aging

Objective: The majority of age-dependent skin changes happen in the dermis layer inducing changes in skin collagen and in the proteoglycans. The main aim of this work is to study the efficacy of a Proteum serum, containing soybean-fragmented proteoglycans, against skin aging. Materials and methods: In vitro tests were performed to evaluate the Proteum serum ability on activating the production of collagen and proteoglycans. An in vivo long-term study was performed to determine the efficacy of the Proteum serum when applied on skin. Protection of healthy skin against detergent-induced dermatitis and the antioxidant properties of the applied Proteum serum were also studied. Results and discussion: The in vitro tests demonstrated that the Proteum serum was able to elevate the production of molecules which are essential for supporting the dermal extracellular matrix organization. These results were correlated by the in vivo measurements where a clear trend on improving the measured skin parameters due to the Proteum serum application was found. Conclusions: A beneficial effect of the Proteum serum was demonstrated with an improvement in the skin roughness and a reinforcement of the skin barrier function. Moreover, a significant protector effect on human stratum corneum against lipids peroxides (LPO) was demonstrated.