Abstract
Most patients with atopic dermatitis suffer from dry skin, deterioration of epidermal barrier function, and dermatitis. Hairless mice (HR-1) are a well known animal model for studies of skin abnormalities such as atopic dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis-like symptoms can be induced in these animals by feeding them a specific diet, known as the HR-AD. Using this animal model, we examined the effects of oral administration of an ethyl alcohol extract of tamogi-take, an edible mushroom that contains a high concentration of glucosyl ceramide (hereafter referred to as tamogi-take extract), on atopic dermatitis. The control group (HR-AD-fed mice) showed typical atopic dermatitis, with gradual transepidermal water loss (TEWL), keratinization and cellular infiltration into dermis. However, these conditions were ameliorated in the mice fed the tamogi-take extract (oral administration weight % of tamogi-take extract: 0.1% and 0.01% as glucosyl ceramide). Thus, in this study using hairless mice, epidermal barrier dysfunction induced by HR-AD was shown to be ameliorated by oral administration of tamogi-take extract.
