The hydration of the stratum corneum (SC) plays an important role in keeping the skin
surface smooth and supple, whose reduction produces xerosis or dry skin. Xerosis affects
even normal individuals with low sebum excretion such as children and elderlies in
dry and cold winter [
[1]
]. It may occur clinically as atopic xerosis [
[2]
] and dry housewives’ dermatitis, in which the underlying inflammatory changes are
invisible. For its prevention, we commonly use topical moisturizers [
[3]
]. Their efficacy can be evaluated clinically but more precisely by utilizing the recently
developed biophysical instruments that can quantitatively assess the hydration state
of the skin surface in terms of high-frequency conductance or capacitance [
4
,
5
]. In contrast to numerous studies on topical agents, there have been few studies reporting
the effects of systemic drugs or food supplements on the SC functions [
6
,
7
,
8
,
9
].Keywords
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References
- Senile xerosis: functional, morphological, and biochemical studies.J Geriatr Dermatol. 1993; 1: 111-120
- Functional analyses of the superficial stratum corneum in atopic dermatitis.Arch Dermatol Res. 1991; 127: 1689-1692
- Dry skin and moisturizers. Chemistry and function.CRC Press, Boca Raton2000
- Evaluation of the skin surface hydration in vivo by electrical measurment.J Invest Dermatol. 1980; 75: 500-507
- Serup J. Jemec G.B.E. Handbook of non-invasive methods and the skin. CRC Press, Boca Raton1995
- Functional assessment of stratum corneum under the influence of oral aromatic retinoid (etretinate) in guinea-pigs and humans. Comparison with topical retinoic acid treatment.Br J Dermatol. 1992; 127: 470-475
- Clninical and instrumental evaluation of a food supplement in improving skin hydration.Int J Cosmet Sci. 2005; 27: 199-204
- Systemic evening primrose oil improves the biophysical skin parameters of healthy adults.Int J Cosmet Sci. 2005; 27: 243-249
- Effect of mucopolysaccharide polysulfate (MPS-PS) on the experimental dry skin model.Kurume Med Assoc. 1988; 51 ([in Japanese]): 407-415
- Water sorption–desorption test in vivo for functional assessment of the stratum corneum.J Invest Dermatol. 1982; 78: 425-428
Article info
Publication history
Received:
July 14,
2005
Identification
Copyright
© 2005 Japanese Society for Investigative Dermatology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
