Abstract
Sphingolipids are funcitionally important in the barrier function of the human stratum corneum. Free amino acids also play an important role in its water retention properties. To increase our understanding of the way in which these substances affect scaly skin, we investigated the change of sphingolipids and free amino acids in scaly skin induced by a surfactant, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). One week after the treatment, the total amount of amino acids was decreased and their composition was changed significantly. However, the total amount of sphingolipids did not differ from that in control skin. The order of the stratum corneum (SC) intercellular lipids evaluated by attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy (ATR-IR) did not change at all, and only the composition of five sphingolipids species changed significantly. These findings suggest that the abnormal morphology of the SC itself and the decline of amino acids are responsible for the dryness of the scaly skin.
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