INVESTIGATIVE REPORT Skin-identical Lipids Versus Petrolatum in the Treatment of Tape-stripped and Detergent-perturbed Human Skin

The cutaneous permeability barrier is localized to the stratum corneum interstices and is mediated by lamellar bilayers enriched in cholesterol, free fatty acids and ceramides. Topically applied lipids may interfere with the skin barrier function and formulations containing ` ̀ skin-identical lipids’ ’ have been suggested to facilitate normalization of damaged skin. The aim of the present study was to compare the ability of ` ̀ skin-identical lipids’ ’ in a petrolatum-rich cream base and pure petrolatum to facilitate barrier repair in detergent- and tape-stripped-perturbed human skin. Barrier recovery and in ¯ amma-tion were instrumentally monitored for 14 days as transepi-dermal water loss and skin blood ¯ ow, using an Evaporimeter and a laser Doppler ¯ owmeter, respectively. Treatment with the 2 different products gave no indication that ` ̀ skin-identical lipids’ ’ in a cream base are more ef ® cient than pure petrolatum at promoting normalization in either of the 2 experimentally perturbed areas. This ® nding may support the hypothesis that different types of skin abnormality should be treated according to the underlying damage. Key words: permeability barrier; transepidermal water loss; skin blood ¯ ow; emollients; moisturizers