BACKGROUND: Alcohol intake induces complex changes in the human body. However, there has not been much investigation on the interaction between alcohol and human skin. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of alcohol intake on the skin's physiology. METHODS: A total 16 Korean males was enrolled in this study and they were divided into two groups (group A and group B). Each group included 8 people. Group A drank alcohol (20.1%, 360 ml) for 90 min and Group B drank 360 ml of normal saline. The body temperature, the skin erythema index, the transepidermal water loss (TEWL), the skin hydration, the skin pH and skin sebum were measured before and 30 min and 120 min after alcohol intake. RESULTS: In group A, the skin erythema index, TEWL, skin hydration and skin pH significantly increased 30 min after alcohol intake, while the body temperature and sebum decreased. All the measurements except sebum recovered 120 min after alcohol intake. However, in group B, all the measurements were not significantly changed. CONCLUSION: Alcohol intake affects thermoregulation, the skin barrier function and the skin pH. This study showing that physiologic changes are induced by alcohol intake may help investigate the interaction between alcohol and skin disease.
Body Temperature ; Body Temperature Regulation ; Erythema ; Human Body ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Male ; Sebum ; Skin ; Skin Diseases ; Skin Physiological Phenomena

To investigate the influence of temperature and humidity on skin friction property and to unveil the mechanism therein involved, a test of friction coefficient for four volunteers was carried out on a multi-specimen friction tester. The temperature and humidity of skin were measured with infrared temperature instrument and dermohygrometer. The results showed that the fluidity and ductility of skin were affected by the change of skin temperature. The skin temperature decreasing friction coefficient and the normal displacement decreased first, and then remained unchanged, deformation friction and adhesive friction being the major underlying mechanism. Humidity significantly affected the skin friction properties. The friction coefficient increased with the increasing of humidity. When skin humidity reached to 42% or so, the friction coefficient increased to 1.0 and higher. Meniscus effect was noted to be the major cause of moist skin surface with high friction coefficient.
Adult ; Body Water ; physiology ; Female ; Friction ; Humans ; Humidity ; Male ; Skin ; metabolism ; Skin Physiological Phenomena ; Skin Temperature ; Surface Properties ; Young Adult

Skin-hearing aid is a new type of electronic product, which can improve hearing for deaf patients. It is different from audiphones and cochlear implant. The instrument makes use of the effect of the skin response to audio signals. The working process of the instrument is as following. Firstly, the sound signal is converted to audio signal by microphone, then through the power amplifier and booster. Then the signal is transmitted to the brain via skin by electrodes. And finally the hearing is formed. As skin-hearing aid transmits signals through the skin by the electrodes, the intensity of the skin resistance becomes the main factor influencing the response of the skin to audio signal. Skin resistance depends mainly upon the stratum corneum. This article aims to discuss the factors affecting the skin resistance, such as the thickness of the stratum corneum, hydration level of stratum corneum, the relation of audio frequency and skin resistance, and the skin resistance of acupuncture points.
Amplifiers, Electronic ; Equipment Design ; Galvanic Skin Response ; physiology ; Hearing Loss, Sensorineural ; etiology ; rehabilitation ; Humans ; Skin Physiological Phenomena

Increased pigmentation of skin after sun exposure is a normal response to solar radiation. Like sunburn, suntan can also be produced by natural solar radiation and by artificial, narrow-spectrum ultraviolet B and ultraviolet A sources. The tanning response is a sign of ultraviolet damage. The western search for the suntan has led to an increased incidence of photoaging and skin cancer of light-skinned individuals. Photoaging is characterized by wrinkling, coarseness, dryness, mottled pigmentation, loss of elasticity, easy bruising, telangiectasias, and benign, premalignant and malignant growths on sun-exposed areas. Photoagings is a slow process, taking decades to become clinically apparent and even longer for all the manifestations to occur. Development of photoagings is determined both by genetic skin type and by the total lifetime radiation dose. Photoaging is more apparent in light-skinned Caucasians than in dark-skinned people. Although it is not possible to state what proportion is due to chronologic aging and what is due to photoaging, it has been estimated that photodamage may account for greater than 90 percent of the age- associated cosmetic problems of the skin. The proliferation of natural tanning and tanning salons should be discouraged by physicians. There is no safe tan.
Aging ; Elasticity ; Incidence ; Pigmentation ; Skin ; Skin Neoplasms ; Solar System ; Sunburn ; Suntan* ; Tanning ; Telangiectasis ; Triacetoneamine-N-Oxyl

To satisfy the daily demand of skin condition maintenance, make non-invasive real-time detection, and get proper quantitative evaluation of skin viscoelasticity parameters at the same time, a portable non-invasive detection system to acquire real-time skin tissue viscoelasticity is developed. The system relies mainly on a single-degree-of-freedom forced vibration model, with spring-damp-mass, and on dynamic micro indentation method. The experiment is conducted on two kinds of springs, and on pigskin tissues as well, the system's suitability, accuracy and stability are confirmed. The skin viscoelasticity detection in vivo is also carried out on 20 subjects with different ages, the differences of skin viscoelasticity in various parts of the body are investigated, and the correlations between age and skin viscoelasticity are clarified.
Elasticity ; Humans ; Skin ; Skin Physiological Phenomena ; Time ; Viscosity

A set of L-band electron spin resonance imaging (ESRI) equipment suitable for biological species was developed and an ESRI experiment model for viable skin samples was established. The mechanic process of nitroxide free radical TEMPO (2,2, 6, 6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy) penetrating through skin sample and the spin density distribution of TEMPO after it interacted with skin sample were detected by the developed ESRI method. Skin samples were extracted from mice back. The experimental samples were prepared by cutting the skin pieces into square shape of 2 x 2 cm2 and then the samples were divided into three groups by treating them with three different methods: Method A, simple treatment by simply cutting the hair; method B, 8% Na2S depilation treatment for 10 min; method C, 8% Na2S depilation and then 5% pancreatic digestion treatment for 2 hours. The liposoluble solvent DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) and distilled water were used as two kinds of solvent for the TEMPO liquor. The results indicated that the skin-penetration properties of TEMPO were significantly different among samples treated with different methods and the surface cornifin of skin offered remarkable resistance to TEMPO. The TEMPO liquor of water could hardly penetrate through skins, whereas about 20%-30% of the original TEMPO compounds that solved in liposoluble solvent DMSO could penetrate through the skin sample treated with method C after 16 hours of interaction. Furthermore, the penetration rate of TEMPO through the skin tissue was a strong time dependent process. The preliminary application results suggested that ESRI technique could provide an effective and applicable method for dynamically researching skin-penetration properties of some special kinds of materials such as paramagnetic compounds.
Animals ; Cyclic N-Oxides ; pharmacokinetics ; Dimethyl Sulfoxide ; chemistry ; Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy ; methods ; Free Radical Scavengers ; pharmacokinetics ; Mice ; Piperidines ; pharmacokinetics ; Skin Absorption ; physiology ; Skin Physiological Phenomena ; drug effects ; Spin Labels

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical efficacy of treatment for clearing heat, detoxicating and nourishing Yin (abbr. as CHM) on glucocorticosteroid (GCS) induced facial dermatitis, and its effect in repairing skin barrier function.

METHODSOne hundred and fifteen patients were randomly assigned into two groups, 68 in the treated group treated with CHM and 47 in the control group treated by oral administration of loratadine 10 mg once a day and ketotifen 1 mg once every night. The volume of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) of patients was measured before and after treatment.

RESULTSThe effective rate was 77.9% (53/68) and 14.9% (7/47) in the treated group and the control group respectively, showing significant difference between the two groups, and it was better in the treated group than that in the control group (P < 0.01). The decrease of TEWL in the treated group was also superior to that in the control group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONChinese herbal treatment for clearing heat, detoxicating and nourishing Yin has significant clinical efficiency on GCS induced facial dermatitis and in repairing the skin barrier function.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Facial Dermatoses ; chemically induced ; drug therapy ; Female ; Glucocorticoids ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Male ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Skin Absorption ; Skin Physiological Phenomena ; drug effects ; Yin Deficiency ; drug therapy

Biomechanical Phenomena ; Humans ; Skin Physiological Phenomena ; Skin, Artificial ; Stress, Mechanical ; Tensile Strength

OBJECTIVETo investigate the biomechanical changes in skin after employing the skin stretch.

METHODSSkin samples were took from the test group which was stretched for 7 days and control group without stretch respectively in the end of 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 week. The biomechanical index were measured by tensiometer.

RESULTSThe mean destroy stress, breaking load, stretch rate of the test group decreased obviously in the first week (the breaking load was increasing at the beginning) and the three index increased subsequently, they reached the climax during the fourth week and turned to normal subsequently to the level of some higher than control group and normal value in the sixth week. The stiffness of the test group reached the climax at the first week and than decreased gradually to the level of some higher than normal value and control group. The biomechanical changes of te control group was not evident by comparing with the test gropu.

CONCLUSIONSSkin stretch may injured the biomechanical property during the early time and turned to normal soon afterwards. The stiffness of the skin was increased and its elasticity was decreased after performing skin stretch.

Biomechanical Phenomena ; Elasticity ; Humans ; Materials Testing ; methods ; Rupture ; Skin ; Skin Physiological Phenomena

In plastic surgery, people hope the conventional expansion will be replaced by rapid expansion, which can shorten greatly the expansion period. Also people are concerned about whether the skin properties after rapid expansion approach that after conventional expansion. So we designed and made an apparatus for in vivo measurement of tension, and then measured the biomechanical properties of skin in vivo for the first time. The experimental results showed there was no significant difference between the rapid expansion method and conventional expansion method in respect to the area gain of expanded skin surface. Both the tension in vivo and the instant stretch-back ratio increased during the expansion, but fell almost to the control values after four weeks' maintaining period. So, rapid skin expansion did not produce any deleterious effect when compared with the conventional expansion. Extension of the maintaining period can improve the biomechanical properties of expanded skin and effectively reduce the stretch-back ratio. Therefore, rapid expansion with an extended maintaining period is clinically acceptable.
Animals ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Dogs ; Elasticity ; Skin Physiological Phenomena ; Tensile Strength ; Time Factors ; Tissue Expansion ; methods