Background and problem: It is well known that the damaging effect of surfactants on the stratum corneum varies according to the surfactant used. The present investigations aim to compare four standard commercial cleansing solutions (Esemptan(R) Cleansing Lotion, Stephalen(R) Shower Gel, Manipur(R) Antimicrobial Cleansing Solution and Tork(R) Mevon 55(TM) Liquid Soap) with respect to their cleansing and skin barrier-damaging effects.Material and methods: The cleansing effect of the solutions was determined in relation to their concentrations in a first experimental series involving 15 subjects using a standardised test method. The product concentrations with the most divergent cleansing effects were tested for their dehydrating (corneometry), epidermal barrier-damaging (TEWL) and irritating effects (laser Doppler) in a standardised washing test. In a second experimental series, the concentration used for the cleansing solutions was based on the quantity of cleansing solution obtained from dispenser actuations (six actuations/L). These concentrations were used to test the cleansing and damaging effect on the stratum corneum using the same methods as in the first experimental series.Results: There were no significant differences in the first experimental series. In the second experimental series, Stephalen(R) Shower Gel showed disadvantages in terms of a small cleansing effect, but without evidence of a smaller stratum corneum-damaging effect, and Tork(R) Mevon 55(TM) Liquid Soap showed advantages in terms of a smaller stratum corneum-damaging effect, but without evidence of a smaller cleansing effect.Conclusions: These studies showed that the relationship between the cleansing and the damaging effect on the stratum corneum can be properly assessed only by testing different concentrations. Furthermore, this experimental approach allowed to differentiate the four tested cleansing solutions.

E-Mail karger@karger.com www.karger.com/drm Jawdat Abdulla, Copenhagen, Denmark Tove Agner, Copenhagen, Denmark Andreas Altenburg, Dessau, Germany Iris Amitay-Laish, Petach Tikva, Israel Wojciech Baran, Wroclaw, Poland Aanna Baran, Bialystok, Poland Ardeshir Bayat, Manchester, UK Nille Behrendt, Roskilde, Denmark Salil Bharadwaj, Manama, Bahrain Lars Erik Bryld, Roskilde, Denmark Perla Calderon, Santiago, Chile Cristina Carrera, Barcelona, Spain Tania Cestari, Porto Alegre, Brazil Annette Chakera, Herlev, Denmark Alex Chamberlain, Melbourne, Australia Pavel Chernyshov, Kiev, Ukraine Karl Christensen, Copenhagen, Denmark Elisa Cinotti, Saint-Étienne, France Arnon D. Cohen, Tel Aviv, Israel Michel Costagliola, Toulouse, France Giovanni Damiani, Bergamo, Italy Véronique del Marmol, Brussels, Belgium Clio Dessinioti, Athens, Greece Alessandro Di Stefani, Rome, Italy Dirk P. Dittmer, Chapel Hill, USA Bernadette Eberlein, Munich, Germany Lennart Emtestam, Stockholm, Sweden Enzo Errichetti, Udine, Italy Francesca Farnetani, Modena, Italy Karsten Fogh, Aarhus, Denmark Ruta Ganceviciene, Vilnius, Lithuania Amit Garg, Lake Success, USA Anthony A. Gaspari, Philadelphia, USA Misbah Noshela Ghazanfar, Copenhagen, Denmark Evangelos E. Giamarellos-Bourboulis, Athens, Greece Donald Glass, Dallas, USA Robert Gniadecki, Edmonton, Canada Vesna Grivcheva Panovska, Skopje, Macedonia Pascale Guitera, Crows Nest, Australia Jürg Hafner, Zurich, Switzerland Yaron Har-Shai, Haifa, Israel Nobukazu Hayashi, Tokyo, Japan Michael Heidenheim, Roskilde, Denmark Elisabeth Hjardem Taudorf, Roskilde, Denmark Emmilia Hodak, Petach Tikva, Israel Laura Huilaja, Oulu, Finland Katrina Hutton Carlsen, Copenhagen, Denmark Kristina Ibler, Roskilde, Denmark Dimitrios Ioannides, Thessaloniki, Greece Jonas L. Isaksen, Copenhagen, Denmark Seon-Pil Jin, Seoul, Republic of Korea Qiang Ju, Shanghai, China Jakob Mutanu Jungersted, Copenhagen, Denmark N.S. Kannan, Pondicherry, India Ilknur Kivanc Altunay, Istanbul, Turkey Aimilios Lallas, Reggio Emilia, Italy Marie Leger, New York, USA Ivan Litvinov, Montreal, Canada Branka Marinovic, Zagreb, Croatia Lukasz Matusiak, Wroclaw, Poland Giuseppe Micali, Catania, Italy Akimichi Morita, Nagoya, Japan Ulrich Mrowietz, Kiel, Germany Marcus Muche, Hoorn, The Netherlands Jungyoon Ohn, Seoul, Republic of Korea Salma Omar, Alexandria, Egypt John Paoli, Gothenburg, Sweden Efi Pasmatzi, Patras, Greece Ole B. Pedersen, Næstved, Denmark Sirkku Peltonen, Turku, Finland Ketty Peris, Rome, Italy Errol P. Prens, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Jörg Prinz, Munich, Germany Lluis Puig, Barcelona, Spain Adam Reich, Wroclaw, Poland Jean Revuz, Paris, France Fabio Rinaldi, Milan, Italy Maria Antonieta Rios Scherrer, Belo Horizonte, Brazil Antoni Romeu, Tarragona, Spain Ricardo Ruiz-Villaverde, Granada, Spain The Editor extends his gratitude and appreciation to the following reviewers whose comments and criticisms ensure the quality of the papers published in this journal.

Background/aims: The hydration state of stratum corneum can be measured with different instruments. In the present study, five instruments were compared under different experimental in vivo conditions: Corneometer CM 820 and CM 825 (both capacitance based), Skicon 200 (conductance), Nova DPM (impedance based capacitance) and DermaLab (capacitance).Methods: Seven anatomical sites were tested, a sorption‐de‐sorption test (SDT) and a moisture accumulation test (MAT) were performed. Different hydration states were created on the volar forearms by occluded application of an oil‐in‐water (o/w) emulsion, glycerol and urea containing oil‐in‐water (o/w) emulsion, an untreated control site and a site after lipid extraction with acetone. Measurements were performed 15 min after removal of occlusion.Results: The coefficient of variation for CM 820 ranged between 9.3% and 23.7%; for CM 825 between 14.9% and 36.8%; for Skicon 200 between 53.0% and 167.3%; for Nova DPM between 36.4% and 95.8%; for DermaLab between 23.6% and 45.6%. All devices showed a highly significant correlation (P<0.0001) with a high Spearman coefficient r ranging between 0.7928 and 0.9358.Conclusions: CM 820 and CM 825 seem to differentiate more precisely than Nova DPM, Skicon 200 and DermaLab in dry conditions according to previous findings, i.e., that conductance measurements might be more sensitive for hydrated skin and capacitance measurements might be more sensitive for dry skin conditions. The CM 825, the Skicon 200 and the Nova DPM are suitable for dynamic measurements of hydration parameters of the stratum corneum.

Liposomes, vesicular double membranes resembling biological membranes, can be prepared from various amphiphilic substances [3]. For liposomes that are to be employed as drug carriers, the most suitable amphiphilics today are the phospholipids, since they are non-toxic [1] and well documented [2] as well as available on an industrial scale. The purpose of our investigation was to study the influence of empty liposomes and of liposomes loaded with betamethasone valerate on the corial blood circulation after epicutaneous application to healthy skin.