Standardized Tape Stripping: A Practical and Reproducible Protocol to Uniformly Reduce the Stratum Corneum

Abstract

The basic idea of the strip patch test (SPT), a modification of the conventional patch test (PT), is to increase the bioavailability of a test substance in the deeper epidermal cell layers by defined tape stripping of the test area on the back prior to a PT. In a prospective, investigator-blinded clinical study, we evaluated the variability and the interrater agreement of our proposed SPT protocol. The relative stratum corneum (SC) reduction after tape stripping was measured on 75 subjects for variability and in a subgroup of 18 subjects for interrater agreement, by performing in vivo confocal laser scanning microscopy. We found good reproducibility with an SC reduction of 31%, with 95% of the values lying between 22 and 40%, and good interrater agreement. As a result, our SPT protocol yields a clinically adequate standardization of the SC reduction and the SPT may therefore be recommended for performance in daily clinical routine.

Facilitating in vitro Tape Stripping: Application of Infrared Densitometry for Quantification of Porcine Stratum Corneum Proteins

“…After placing the first adhesive film on the skin, its outline was indicated with a permanent marker to ensure subsequent tape stripping on the exact same skin area. In order to apply pressure while ensuring a rolling movement to minimize the influence of wrinkles [14] , pressure was applied with the thumb covered in a vinyl glove as previously described [19,22] . The experiment was performed on a balance to ensure a constant pressure of 49 N (5 kg) in the case of Corneofix and 19 N (2 kg) in the case of D-Squame.…”

“…It is well known that the amount of corneocytes removed with single tapes and the thickness of the horny layer can vary considerably for different individuals [1,22,27] . Hence during skin penetration studies, the absolute horny layer thickness should either be established for every tested individual or for a sufficiently large number of individuals for which a representative mean thickness can be calculated.…”

Comparison of Microneedles and Adhesive-Tape Stripping in Skin Preparation for Epicutaneous Allergen Delivery

“…Adhesive-tape stripping, in contrast, has been shown to reduce the stratum corneum and to enhance the penetration of topically applied substances into deeper layers of the epidermis [31]. However, the relatively low reactivity pattern in this study suggests that allergen deposition rates are significantly lower than with the microneedle preparation (p < 0.001).…”

New routes for allergen immunotherapy

“…54 Twelve patches with allergen or placebo were applied on the upper arm, before and during the pollen season, and the application area was prepared by tape stripping. [64][65][66][67] A 70% improvement of hay fever symptoms in the treated patients was observed, while the placebo effect accounted for 20%. No severe systemic allergic reactions were observed, but local eczematous skin reactions were frequently reported.…”