ABSTRACT
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 299 Investigation of the Delivery Vehicle and Skin Reservoir Effect .................................................. 300 Investigation of Stratum Corneum Lipid Biochemistry................................................................. 300 Bioequivalence Assessments.......................................................................................................... 302 Lateral Drug Distribution................................................................................................................ 303 Corneocyte Quantification ............................................................................................................. 303 Follicular Penetration ..................................................................................................................... 304 Limitations of Tape Stripping......................................................................................................... 304 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................... 305 References....................................................................................................................................... 306
Tape stripping is a technique that has been found useful in dermatopharmaceutical research for selectively and exhaustively removing the skin’s outermost layer, the stratum corneum (SC). This technique uses an adhesive film to remove the corneocyte aggregates of the SC in a stepwise manner. The sequential removal of cells from the SC by adhesive tape is one method by which the relationship between xenobiotic and cell abundance on each removed strip may be assessed. Quantitative information about the drug concentration and the respective amount of corneocytes per tape may be used to describe the local distribution of the substance within the depth profile of the SC [1-4], and to describe influences that penetration enhancer chemicals may have on the drug penetration kinetics. Furthermore, many in vivo methods for measuring dermal absorption of chemicals are invasive (e.g., blood samples are collected) or slow (e.g., urine samples
are collected for extended periods). On the other hand, tape stripping of the SC is a fast and relatively noninvasive technique for measuring dermal absorption [5, 6].
