Sodium lauiyl sulphate damaged skin in vivo in man: a water barrier repair model.

Background/aims: Few studies describe enhancing the repair of surfactant-induced damaged skin. In vivo human studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a topical agent after sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) induced water barrier disruption. Methods: Occlusive chambers with 1 % SLS were applied to the upper-backs of volunteers for 24 h, removed and topical agents applied on the SLS-treated skin sites daily for 5 days. Water barrier restoration was monitored by measuring transepidermal water loss (TEWL). Results: The data were expressed as the percentage of recovery representing normalization of water barrier function. Results showed that a topical agent produced more rapid improvement in barrier function than its placebo vehicle, markedly accelerating repair at 48 h (P<0.01), and persisting throughout the experiment (P<0.05), in comparison with SLS-control sites. Conclusions: This study suggests that topical agents may accelerate the repair rates of water barrier function in SLS-treated human skin. This model appears facile and robust for evaluating such repair.