• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.117-133
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• 2008

Objectives : Since ancient times, Koreans have applied medicinal spabaths for treatment of various diseases. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of strontium, one of the common ingredients of such baths, experimentally on acute skin barrier damage. Materials and Methods : Male hairless mice, average weight 20g, were divided into six groups. Each group consisted of five mice. The first was the normal, non-treated group. The second was the control group with acute skin barrier damage intentionally induced by TS. The third was the Ba-Sr1 group bathed in 1mg/L strontium chloride before and after inducing acute skin barrier damage by TS. The fourth was the Ba-Sr7 group bathed in 7mg/L strontium chloride before and after inducing acute skin barrier damage by TS. The fifth was the Sr1 group bathed in 1mg/L of strontium chloride only after intentionally inducing acute skin barrier damage by TS. The sixth was the Sr7 group bathed in 7mg/L of strontium chloride only after intentionally inducing acute skin barrier damage by TS. External changes of skin, skin erythema level, transepidermal water loss level, and GOT and GPT level of each group were checked immediately before and after TS, 3 hrs, 5 hrs and 24 hrs after inducing acute skin barrier damage. Then, tissue samples were made and examined for damage to epithelial cells, stratum corneum, change of mucous polysaccharide in dermis and amount of mast cells. Statistical analysis was performed by one way-ANOVA, Scheffe and Duncan for a post hoc test and pairwise comparison for comparing for difference between each time. Statistical significance was achieved if the probability was less than 5% (p<0.05) Results : 1. From skin erythema and TEWL level indicating the function of the skin barrier, we can know that it is helpful to the skin barrier to bathe in a water solution including a low concentration of strontium. 2. In the control group with acute skin barrier damage induced by TS, skin barrier damage persisted until 3-5 hrs and recovered after 5-24 hrs. Differently from the control group, in the case of taking a bath in a water solution including strontium, skin barrier damage recovered after only 3-5 hrs. Therefore, the bath with a water solution including strontium can promote recovery of the skin barrier. 3. Bathing in water solution including a higher concentration of strontium was more beneficial to recovery of skin barrier damage. 4. There was no influence on serum GOT and GPT from bathing in a water solution including strontium. Conclusions : The strontium was effective for recovery and mitigation of acute skin barrier damage induced by tape stripping. I suggest that strontium (Sr) can be used as an external treatment medicine, addedinto bath water to treat acute skin barrier damage.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.466-470
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the effects of topically applied petrolatum and glycerin on the barrier repair of acetone-induced skin damage in 6 beagle dogs. To confirm the effects of petrolatum and glycerin on acetone disrupted skin models, we performed to evaluate the characteristics of transepidermal water loss and SC hydration and scanning electron microscopic observations. TEWL and SC hydration measurements were carried out 3, 6, 12, 24, 48h after applying petrolatum and glycerin during recovery from acute disruption. Our results showed that there were some different effects between petrolatum and glycerin on the acetone damaged skin such as barrier function repair process and SC hydration status. The results indicate that the significant improvement could be observed in glycerin apply more than petrolatum after acetone damages, and further study will be required.

• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.765-779
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• 2003

Physiological lipid mixtures comprised of cholesterol, ceramide and free fatty acid better maintain epidermal homeostasis and have been recently used for dermatoses induced by skin barrier damage, for example for atopic dermatitis and xerotic skin. Itching and dry atopic dermatitis of the skin may be related to altered skin barrier function. In a previous study, the use of multi-lamellar emulsion (MLE), which is a lipid mixtures containing cholesterol, pseudoceramide and free fatty acid, has been shown to accelerate the recovery of the epidermal permeability barrier. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of MLE compared with a currently used anti-itch moisturizer (AIM), the active ingredients of which are menthol and camphor, on barrier recovery after barrier disruption. To clarify the effect of MLE and AIM after acute barrier perturbation, we measured the relation between transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and the barrier recovery rate at 3, 6, 24, and 48 hours after tape stripping hairless mice and then observed changes in the stratum corneum (SC), including the intercellular lipid structure and secretion of lamellar bodies, by electron microscopy. MLE treated skin recover skin barrier function more rapidly, and AIM treated skin delayed barrier repair. Morphological changes in the epidermis, of MLE treated skin revealed well-conserved lipid multi-lamellar structures at 24 h after tape stripping, whereas AIM treated skin showed altered lamellar bilayers within the SC interstices at 48 h. In addition, MLE treated skin showed an increase in the number of LBs and in their secretions and a decrease in the number of SC layers versus AIM treated skin. These results suggest that MLE may accelerate the production of an epidermal permeability barrier in hairless mice by increasing the number and secretion of LB and improve the dryness and itch associated with an altered epidermal permeability barrier.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.179-191
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• 2008

Background and Objectives : Atopic dermatitis is a recurrent or chronic eczematous skin disease with severe pruritus,and has increased in Korea. Although the pathogenic mechanisms of atopic dermatitis are yet unknown, recently skin barrier dysfunction and hyperresponsive Th2 cells in the acute phase have been reported as important mechanisms. Cheonggi-san(CGS) is used in oriental clinics for treatingacute skin lesions of eczema or urticaria. There have been no studies on the therapeutic mechanism of CGS for curing atopic dermatitis. We aimed to find out the therapeutic effects of its internaluse on atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions, induced in NC/Nga mice by the mite antigen D. pteronyssinus and disrupting skin barrier. Materials and Methods : The NC/Nga mice were classified into three groups: control group, atopic dermatitis elicitated group(AD), and CGS treated group (CT). Atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions were induced on the back of female NC/Nga mice, 12 weeks of age, by tape stripping, 5% SDS applied to disrupt skin barrier and painting 3 times a week with D. pteronyssinus crude extract solution for 3 weeks. CT was treated with CGS orally after atopic dermatitis was elicitated. We observed changes of skin damage, mast cells, substance P, angiogenesis, skin barrier, Th2 cell differentiation, nuclear factor-${\kappa}B(NF-{\kappa}B)$ p65 activation and COX-2 in NC/Nga mice with atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions. Results : The skin damages as eczema were seenin AD, but mitigated in CT. The degranulated mast cells in dermal papillae increased in AD, but decreased in CT. The substance P positive reacted cells in CT remarkably decreased. The angiogenesis increased in AD, but decreased in CT. The decrease of lipid deposition and ceramide in AD was seen, but anincrease of lipid deposition and ceramide in CT was seen. The distribution of IL-4 positive reacted cells in dermal papillae increased in AD, but decreased in CT. The distribution of NF-${\kappa}B$ p65 positive reacted cells & COX-2 positive reacted cells in CT decreased. Conclusion : The results may suggest that the CGS per os decreases the dysfunction of the skin barrier, inhibits Th2 cell differentiation and inhibits NF-${\kappa}B$ p65 activation in NC/Nga mice with atopic dermatitis-like skin lesions.