Effect of Enhancers on the Electrical Properties of Skin: The Effect of Azone and Ethanol

The effect of Azone and ethanol on the electrical properties of human and hairless mouse skin was studied and the results were compared. The complex electrical impedance was measured as a function of frequency, and resistance and capacitance were determined from Nyquist plot. After the treatment of human-heat separated epidermis with Azone, contrary to the expectation, resistance increased about 60% and it did not change with time. Capacitance also increased; immediately after the treatment, it was about 110% of pretreatment value and it increased further with time. On the other hand, when hairless mouse skin was treated with Azone, marked changes occured; resistance fell almost to the value of bathing medium itself and capacitance increased to about 200% of its pretreatment value. Similar result were obtained when hairless mouse skin was treated with 100% ethanol. The results suggest that there are differences in the strength of barrier properties of stratum corneum (SC) between human and hairless mouse skin. Overall, the results provide further mechanistic insight into ion conduction through the skin and into the role of SC lipids in skin capacitance.