Skin Hydration (  EpiDermFT™ )

APPLICATION NOTE

In Vitro Evaluation of Cosmetic Formulations and Moisturizers

for Skin Hydration using EpiDermTM or EpiDermFTTM

Objective

To evaluate skin hydration following treatment with topically-applied cosmetic formulations or moisturizers by measuring the electrical impedance within the EpiDerm in vitro human skin model.

Methods

 * EpiDerm tissues (Figure 1) were produced in the MatTek Corporation GMP tissue production facility .
 * 25μl of each formulation was applied topically to the EpiDerm tissues for 4 hrs.
 * After treatment, EpiDerm tissues were gently rinsed.
 * Skin hydration was measured using the DPM 9003 Nova Meter (Nova Technologies).

Figure 1. Histology of EpiDerm and EpiDermFT. H&E stained cross-section showing that the tissue morphology of EpiDerm
(A) and EpiDermFT (B) closely parallels that of normal human skin. The epidermis contains basal, spinous, granular and stratum corneum layers and the dermis contains viable fibroblasts (400x).

Results

Skin hydration levels were significantly higher in EpiDerm tissues treated with Formulation 1, Formulation 2 or Formulation 3 compared to the untreated controls (Figure 2).

Figure 2. Skin hydration of EpiDerm. Skin hydration of EpiDerm was measured following a 4 hour topical exposure to Formulation 1, Formulation 2 or Formulation 3 and compared to untreated controls. Data are presented as individual experimental replicates (n=4). Skin hydration values that are significantly different from untreated control using a Student’s t-test (P ≤ 0.01) are indicated by an asterisk (*).

Conclusion

Assessment of skin hydration following treatment with topically-applied cosmetic formulations and moisturizers in the EpiDerm and EpiDermFT in vitro human skin models can be used in efficacy and claims substantiation studies.

Additional applications for the EpiDerm, MelanoDerm and EpiDermFT tissue models include Anti-aging, Skin Whitening, and UV Protection.