Detection of albumin using skin blotting as a measure of skin barrier function

Abstract

Measurement of transepidermal water loss（TEWL）is the gold standard for the evaluation of skin barrier function. However, it is difficult to obtain stable values in the clinical setting. In this study, we evaluated the use of albumin detection by skin blotting as a newmeasurement method for determination of skin barrier function. We analyzed the correlation between TEWL values and detected the intensity of albumin staining by skin blotting in animal models and humans. The albumin intensities were significantly correlated with TEWL values in samples of back skin from mice（r =0.56, p=0.02）. In addition, the albumin intensities were also correlated with TEWL values in human skin（r=0.73, p <0.01）. Thus, albumin intensity using skin blotting was a noninvasive and stable method for evaluating skin barrier function as an alternative to TEWL.