Effect of Microdermabrasion on Barrier Capacity of Stratum Corneum

Abstract

Controlled microdermabrasion is a methodology which allows to slowly abrade the cutaneous surface, stratum corneum, up to the level desired in a non-traumatic way. The dermabrasion techniques of stratum corneum have been used for the treatment of stretch marks, wrinkles smoothing and acne scars.1) The controlled dermabrasion can also be applied to estimate the rate of drug penetration across the skin under in vivo conditions, 2,3) where the amount of the stratum corneum removed by each dermabrasion treatment must be precisely controlled. 2)A conventional method for peeling the stratum corneum is tape stripping; the human stratum corneum is reported to be completely removed by about 20 tape stripping. 4,5) The tape stripping is, however, time consuming and the amount of stratum corneum removed may vary in a complicated manner according to the pressure applied by subjects. For the in vivo evaluation of the rate of penetration, 2) therefore, the tape stripping technique requires quick and reproducible operation under controlled pressure on the adhesive tape. This is not practical to be carried out in a simple tape stripping operation.In order to overcome the difficulty associated with the tape stripping method, we have attempted to apply controlled microdermabrasion for removing the stratum corneum, quickly, simply and reproducibly. In the present microdermabrasion, the stratum corneum can be peeled partly or completely according to the number of treatment or the setting time of the probe of microdermabrasion on the skin surface. It is also possible to control precisely the amount of the stratum corneum removed by each treatment, and therefore we can avoid the damage of viable tissue due to over-treatment.In the present paper, we have investigated the relationship between the barrier capacity of the stratum corneum, which can be defined as the rate of drug penetration, and the operating conditions of microdermabrasion of the skin. The enhancement in the rate of penetration by skin treatment is measured as a function of the number of the treatment or the setting time of the probe for microdermabrasion. The rate of skin penetration following the treatment is also compared with those obtained in a conventional tape stripped skin. ExperimentalA microdermabrasion system, PEPITA (Fig. 1, Mattioli Engineering, Florence, Italy, Inter Face Co. Tokyo, Japan) was used for peeling the stratum corneum. It has been widely used in Europe and recently received FDA approval for use in the United States. PEPITA is a new device that allows the projection of a flow of inert corundum crystals on the skin through a controlled graduated vacuum.6) The fine corundum particles, being quickly in contact with the skin surface, abrade and remove the stratum corneum, either partly or completely, without damaging the deeper layer of the viable skin.Immediately after sacrificing the animal, a hand piece whose tip is pierced by a small elliptical hole (approximately 4.5ϫ9 mm) (Fig. 1) was placed on the surface of the dorsal skin of hairless mouse ...

Challenges and Opportunities in dermal/transdermal Delivery

“…Mechanistically, crystal microdermabrasion uses microcrystals blown onto the skin surface to perform the exfoliating process. Several-fold improvement in flux for low-molecular-weight drugs was shown by various researchers with the use of this technique [30,31]. A recent study by Gill et al investigated the effect of microdermabrasion on stratum corneum removal in rhesus macaques and human volunteers in vivo .…”

Selective removal of stratum corneum by microdermabrasion to increase skin permeability

“…While tape stripping has been employed to remove stratum corneum in many laboratory studies (Godefroy et al, 2005, Guy and Hadgraft, 2002), thermal ablation and mechanical abrasion have been emphasized for transdermal drug delivery with clinical potential. Thermal ablation of the stratum corneum has been carried out using lasers (Fang et al, 2004a), radiofrequency energy (Sintov et al, 2003) and direct application of heat (Bramson et al, Arora et al, 2008) and mechanical abrasion of the stratum corneum has been carried out using abrasive-pads (Glenn et al, 2007), blunt-tipped microneedles (Mikszta et al, 2002) and microdermabrasion (Fujimoto et al, 2005, Lee et al, 2006). …”

Assessment of response of microdermabrasion with 2% kojic acid in melasma

“…[25][26][27] These properties, along with the ability of microdermabrasion to increase the penetration of hydrophilic molecules, makes it a possibly useful adjunct to kojic acid.…”