Topical oils on baby skin may contribute to development of childhood atopic eczema. A pilot, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial assessed feasibility of a definitive trial investigating their impact in neonates. One-hundred and fifteen healthy, full-term neonates were randomly assigned to olive oil, sunflower oil or no oil, twice daily for 4 weeks, stratified by family history of atop...

Mammalian skin owes its remarkable barrier function to its outermost and dead layer, the stratum corneum. Transdermal transport through this region occurs predominantly through intercellular lipids, organized largely in bilayers. Electroporation is the creation of aqueous pores in lipid bilayers by the application of a short (microseconds to milliseconds) electric pulse. Our measurements sugges...

Recent advances in the fields of biomaterials and nanotechnology have allowed the development of advanced nanoparticles for biomedical applications. Despite a vast number of nanostructures such as liposomes, solid–lipid nanocapsules, polymeric and hybrid lipid–polymer nanoparticles have been studied as carriers for drug delivery for different pathologies with remarkable promising results; the u...

The lipid on the surface of human skin is composed of wax esters and squalene from the sebaceous glands, cholesterol and cholesterol esters arising predominantly from the superficial epidermis, and glycerides plus free fatty acids from both sources. The activity of the sebaceous glands goes th rough a number of phases and is largely dependent on underlying endocrine factors. It is high immediat...

The skin serves the vital function of providing a barrier between the hostile external environment and the host. While the skin has many important barrier functions, the two that are absolutely essential for survival are the barrier to the movement of water and electrolytes (permeability barrier) and the barrier against invasive and toxic microorganisms (antimicrobial barrier). Lipids play an e...

Acyl CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) is a ubiquitously expressed enzyme that catalyzes the final reaction in the major pathways of triglyceride synthesis. Mice lacking DGAT1 (Dgat(-/-)) demonstrate significant changes in lipid metabolism in several tissues, including the skin. Here we report the effects of DGAT1 deficiency on fur and sebaceous glands. Adult Dgat(-/-) mice had dry fur ...

Monoglycerides and unsaturated fatty acids, naturally present in trace amounts in the stratum corneum (top layer of skin) lipid matrix, are commonly used in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and health care formulations. However, a detailed molecular understanding of how the oil additives get incorporated into the skin lipids from topical application and, once incorporated, how they affect the propertie...

The stratum corneum, the most superficial layer of skin, protects body against environmental hazards and presents a highly selective barrier for passage drugs cosmetic products deeper into skin across skin. Nanomaterials can effectively increase permeation active molecules corneum enable their penetration layers, often by interacting with creating distinct sites elevated local concentration, ac...