WATER UPTAKE INTO STRATUM CORNEUM; PARTITION BETWEEN LIPIDS AND PROTEINS

ABSTRACT Water uptake in natural and reaggregated stratum corneum was determined by weight difference after storage in an atmosphere of controlled relative humidity. Interlayer spacing in separated lipids as a function of their water content was determined by low-angle X-ray diffractometry. These values were used as a calibration curve to determine the water content of the lipid bilayers in reaggregated stratum corneum. The results revealed different behavior of the lipid models compared to natural lipids of the stratum corneum. The additional water taken up after reaggregation of equilibrated lipids and proteins, was equally partitioned between the protein and the natural lipid fraction, while the models gave a proportionally higher water uptake into the lipids at high relative humidity. It is obvious that the models, so far, do not mimic all the properties of the natural stratum corneum lipids.