Ethanol induces the formation of water-permeable defects in model bilayers of skin lipids

Abstract

We observe that ethanol can induce the formation of water-permeable defects in model bilayers of skin lipids and propose this as a new mechanism of action of ethanol as a membrane modulator.

Barrier damaging effects of n‐propanol in occlusion‐modified tandem repeated irritation test: Modulation by exposure factors and atopic skin disease

“…The maintenance of skin hydration depends on both the intercellular lipids which regulate the transport of water across the stratum corneum and a mixture of low‐molecular weight, water‐soluble compounds, such as amino acids, organic acids, urea, and inorganic ions, collectively known as NMFs. Short‐chain alcohols are penetration enhancers and known to exert pronounced effects on the intercellular lipids, including disruption of the lipid lamellae, lipid phase transition, and alterations in the lipid organization . Apart from these effects, short‐chain alcohols, and in particular, n ‐propanol, were recently shown to reduce the activity of phospholipase A2 (PLA 2 ), one of the key enzymes involved in the maintenance of barrier homeostasis and lipid processing in the skin .…”

“…The aim of this study following the om-TRIT protocol was to investi- The changes in the barrier function parameters after cumulative exposure to 60% n-propanol in a TRIT in healthy volunteers were initially studied by Kappes et al 18 Using the same exposure model, we recently showed significant impairment of the permeability barrier and alterations in the lipid organization. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] Apart from these effects, short-chain alcohols, and in particular, n-propanol, were recently shown to reduce the activity of phospholipase A2 (PLA 2 ), one of the key enzymes involved in the maintenance of barrier homeostasis and lipid processing in the skin. 19 In an earlier publication, we provided first evidence for significant reduction in the stratum corneum NMF levels after om-TRIT with n-propanol and/or SLS and demonstrated that short-chain alcohols may cause skin dryness through interaction with both the skin lipids and reduction of NMF.…”

Molecular mechanism of the skin permeation enhancing effect of ethanol: a molecular dynamics study

“…As mentioned earlier, researchers have used either CHARMM or GROMOS force eld to simulate the skin lipids. 25,31,32,43 Here, we have used GROMOS based force eld to capture the effect of ethanol concentration on skin lipid layer. The number of water and ethanol molecules for a particular ethanol mole fraction is given in Table 1.…”

“…The above observations of taking water molecules inside the bilayer interior could explain these experimental results. Thind et al 43 performed MD simulation of CER bilayer in presence of ethanol at various concentration and reported that water permeable defects were generated at higher ethanol concentration. Same researchers also reported the extraction of lipids from the CER lipid bilayer at very high concentration of ethanol.…”

Effect of different alcohols on stratum corneum kallikrein 5 and phospholipase A2 together with epidermal keratinocytes and skin irritation

“…More recently, it has been demonstrated that ethanol disrupted SC intercellular lipid structure, formed pores and promoted orthorhombic-(the most tightly packed lipid organization)to-hexagonal (a less tightly packed lipid organization) lipid phase transitions [18,19]. Also Thind et al [20] confirmed that ethanol induces water-permeable defects in models of SC lipids in vitro. However, the effects of ethanol on SC lipids in situ have not been investigated in depth.…”