Recovery effects of various skin lipid components and their structural derivatives on skin barrier damage

Skin lipids, such as ceramides (CERs), play an important role in maintaining the skin barrier. Although the benefits of CERs are well known, few studies have investigated the effects of other skin lipid components on the skin barrier. Therefore, this study compared the efficacy of several skin lipid components and their structural derivatives, including CERs, on the skin barrier.

The water-holding capacity and occlusion factor were determined to evaluate the moisture barrier and sealing effects, respectively, of creams containing various skin lipid components. A human study using sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) to induce skin damage was also conducted to explore skin barrier recovery. Epidermal thickness and density were measured using an ultrasonic instrument.

The cream containing behenic acid (BA) had the best water-holding capacity, and the creams with CER and BA significantly increased the occlusion factor. The BA-containing cream had a cubic structural pattern in the small-angle X-ray scattering analysis, which may explain the high occlusion factor. In SDS-damaged skin, transepidermal water loss recovered significantly faster in skin areas treated with cream containing BA and CER compared with non-treated skin.

This study compares the skin barrier recovery effects of skin lipid components, demonstrating that BA elicits a high skin barrier recovery effect similar to that of CER, which has known efficacy. BA also had an excellent sealing effect through lipid packaging, whereas CER had a combined sealing effect and increased the epidermal thickness and density. These results provide foundational evidence for formulating products that help restore the skin barrier by supplying lipids to the skin surface.