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Development of a novel in vitro strategy to understand the impact of shaving on skin health: combining tape strip exfoliation and human skin equivalent technology

Costello, Lydia; Goncalves, Kirsty; Maltman, Victoria; Barrett, Nicole; Shah, Kous; Stephens, Alison; Dicolandrea, Tereasa; Ambrogio, Ilaria; Hodgson, Erica; Przyborski, Stefan

Development of a novel in vitro strategy to understand the impact of shaving on skin health: combining tape strip exfoliation and human skin equivalent technology Thumbnail


Authors

Lydia Costello

Nicole Barrett nicole.barrett@durham.ac.uk
PGR Student Doctor of Philosophy

Kous Shah

Alison Stephens

Tereasa Dicolandrea

Ilaria Ambrogio

Erica Hodgson



Abstract

Introduction: The removal of unwanted hair is a widespread grooming practice adopted by both males and females. Although many depilatory techniques are now available, shaving remains the most common, despite its propensity to irritate skin. Current techniques to investigate the impact of shaving regimes on skin health rely on costly and lengthy clinical trials, which hinge on recruitment of human volunteers and can require invasive biopsies to elucidate cellular and molecular-level changes. Methods: Well-characterised human skin equivalent technology was combined with a commonplace dermatological technique of tape stripping, to remove cellular material from the uppermost layer of the skin (stratum corneum). This method of exfoliation recapitulated aspects of razor-based shaving in vitro, offering a robust and standardised in vitro method to study inflammatory processes such as those invoked by grooming practices. Results: Tape strip insult induced inflammatory changes in the skin equivalent such as: increased epidermal proliferation, epidermal thickening, increased cytokine production and impaired barrier function. These changes paralleled effects seen with a single dry razor pass, correlated with the number of tape strips removed, and were attenuated by pre-application of shaving foam, or post-application of moisturisation. Discussion: Tape strip removal is a common dermatological technique, in this study we demonstrate a novel application of tape stripping, to mimic barrier damage and inflammation associated with a dry shave. We validate this method, comparing it to razor-based shaving in vitro and demonstrate the propensity of suitable shave- and skin-care formulations to mitigate damage. This provides a novel methodology to examine grooming associated damage and a platform for screening potential skin care formulations.

Citation

Costello, L., Goncalves, K., Maltman, V., Barrett, N., Shah, K., Stephens, A., …Przyborski, S. (2023). Development of a novel in vitro strategy to understand the impact of shaving on skin health: combining tape strip exfoliation and human skin equivalent technology. Frontiers in Medicine, 10, Article 1236790. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2023.1236790

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Oct 19, 2023
Online Publication Date Nov 2, 2023
Publication Date 2023
Deposit Date Nov 23, 2023
Publicly Available Date Nov 23, 2023
Journal Frontiers in Medicine
Publisher Frontiers Media
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 10
Article Number 1236790
DOI https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2023.1236790
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1932638

Files

Published Journal Article (2.9 Mb)
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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
Copyright: 2023 Costello, Goncalves, Maltman, Barrett, Shah, Stephens, Dicolandrea, Ambrogio, Hodgson and Przyborski. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.





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