SciBase Holding AB (“SciBase”) (STO:SCIB), a leading developer of augmented intelligence-based solutions for skin disorders announced today scientific results that demonstrate the detrimental effects that common detergents can have on the health of the skin barrier. Top line results were presented recently at the World Immune Regulation Meeting (WIRM) in Davos, Switzerland. The study, which is not yet published, was performed by SIAF (CH), CK-CARE (CH), SciBase (SE) and the Sean N. Parker Allergy and Asthma research institute at Stanford (US). The study demonstrates that household laundry detergents disrupt the skin barrier integrity in mice.
The use of professional and household cleaning agents is associated with an increased risk of developing allergic disorders. In line with this, impairment of the epithelial barrier is also associated with the development of allergic disorders.
The aim of the study was to utilize Nevisense and Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) to assess the effect of commercially available detergents on the skin barrier of mice. The top line results of the study indicated that:
- Even at very low concentrations household detergents can impact the epidermis integrity, leading to an impaired skin barrier.
- Prolonged exposure to detergent residue in clothes could progressively impair the barrier, leading to a higher risk of allergen sensitization.
- Detergents could also aggravate already existing allergic disorders such as atopic dermatitis, increasing disease severity.
- EIS is a fast and reliable tool for in vivo detection of barrier function with possible applications in dermatological and cosmetic studies.
“Since the 1960’s we have seen a pandemic-scale increase in the prevalence of allergic diseases, affecting one billion individuals. This study highlights the risk that laundry detergents are contributing to this development, as further described in our “epithelial barrier hypothesis”. We are very encouraged to see that EIS measurements could identify skin barrier impairment at such an early stage and at such low detergent concentrations. EIS provides an increasingly useful tool for such evaluations” said Professor Cezmi Akdis at SIAF (Swiss Institute of Asthma and Allergy Research).
“This is a fascinating study that shows the negative effect of common household detergents on the skin barrier, and though a mouse study, there are clearly implications for the general population. Skin barrier integrity is an important factor in many allergic diseases and EIS measurements of the skin barrier can provide unique and valuable insights in the prevention and management of these diseases. Studies have already shown that Nevisense can discriminate between patients with and without atopic dermatitis through non-lesional skin measurements and has the potential to track improvement after therapy. We believe that Nevisense and EIS have the potential to become a standard of care in this space and a very significant opportunity for SciBase.”, says Simon Grant CEO SciBase.
