• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.363-367
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• 2001

Shampoos are used routinely by a large number of veterinarians to treat skin diseases. Skin pH is affected by shampoos, however, known to occur. In order to evaluate the effect of shampoos on skin surface pH, we performed the measurement of skin pH using skin pH meter PH900 in five healthy mixed breed dogs. The seven commercial shampoos: Humilac, Sebocalm, Sebolytics, Etiderm, PEroxyderm, HyLyt and Zn-7 Derm were included in this study. The anatomical sites, right thorax was the highest pH (7.66$\pm$0.10), and the lowest pH (6.20$\pm$0.23) was left pinna. A statiscally significant decrease in skin pH was found 7 minutes after application of Humilac, Sebocalm, Etiderm, Peroxyderm (p<0.01) and Sebolytics (p<0.05). After 17 minutes of application skin surface pH was inclined to increase in every shampoos but the degree of increase was slight at 77 minutes. No statiscally significant differences were found in HyLy-T and Zn-7 Derm, but skin pH was normal range (6.2-7.8) after application. Throughout the experiment skin surface pH was maintained above pH 7.0 in detergent. The commercial shampoos, Humilac, Sebocalm, Etiderm, had the decreasing effect on skin surface pH in dogs. The other four shampoos maintain the skin pH normal range. The skin pH meter PH 900 was found simple and useful for skin pH measurement.