Development of a novel in vitro strategy to understand the impact of shaving on skin health: combining tape strip exfoliation and human skin equivalent technology

Bibliographic Details
Title: Development of a novel in vitro strategy to understand the impact of shaving on skin health: combining tape strip exfoliation and human skin equivalent technology
Authors: Lydia Costello, Kirsty Goncalves, Victoria Maltman, Nicole Barrett, Kous Shah, Alison Stephens, Tereasa Dicolandrea, Ilaria Ambrogio, Erica Hodgson, Stefan Przyborski
Source: Frontiers in Medicine, Vol 10 (2023)
Publisher Information: Frontiers Media S.A., 2023.
Publication Year: 2023
Collection: LCC:Medicine (General)
Subject Terms: exfoliation, stratum corneum, skin equivalent, shaving, inflammation, tape strip, Medicine (General), R5-920
More Details: IntroductionThe removal of unwanted hair is a widespread grooming practice adopted by both males and females. Although many depilatory techniques are now available, shaving remains the most common, despite its propensity to irritate skin. Current techniques to investigate the impact of shaving regimes on skin health rely on costly and lengthy clinical trials, which hinge on recruitment of human volunteers and can require invasive biopsies to elucidate cellular and molecular-level changes.MethodsWell-characterised human skin equivalent technology was combined with a commonplace dermatological technique of tape stripping, to remove cellular material from the uppermost layer of the skin (stratum corneum). This method of exfoliation recapitulated aspects of razor-based shaving in vitro, offering a robust and standardised in vitro method to study inflammatory processes such as those invoked by grooming practices.ResultsTape strip insult induced inflammatory changes in the skin equivalent such as: increased epidermal proliferation, epidermal thickening, increased cytokine production and impaired barrier function. These changes paralleled effects seen with a single dry razor pass, correlated with the number of tape strips removed, and were attenuated by pre-application of shaving foam, or post-application of moisturisation.DiscussionTape strip removal is a common dermatological technique, in this study we demonstrate a novel application of tape stripping, to mimic barrier damage and inflammation associated with a dry shave. We validate this method, comparing it to razor-based shaving in vitro and demonstrate the propensity of suitable shave- and skin-care formulations to mitigate damage. This provides a novel methodology to examine grooming associated damage and a platform for screening potential skin care formulations.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 2296-858X
Relation: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2023.1236790/full; https://doaj.org/toc/2296-858X
DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1236790
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/7dd5d158704f4ab59d2ec536700ed624
Accession Number: edsdoj.7dd5d158704f4ab59d2ec536700ed624
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:2296858X
DOI:10.3389/fmed.2023.1236790
Published in:Frontiers in Medicine
Language:English