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Epidermal permeability barrier function plays a crucial role in regulating cutaneous function. Improvement of epidermal barrier function has become a valuable approach to prevent and treat certain skin disorders. However, the commercially available barrier enhancing products are expensive and not readily available in developing countries, such as African and some countries in Asia. In the present study, we first optimized an inexpensive formulation that can enhance epidermal permeability barrier and then the basis thereof. Hairless mice were treated topically with various formulation twice-daily for 3 days. At the end of treatments, permeability barrier function was assessed with a Tewameter. The efficacy of optimized formulation on barrier function in tape-stripped skin was also assessed. Our results show that topical optimized formulation significantly enhanced basal permeability barrier function and permeability barrier homeostasis after tape stripping while basal stratum corneum hydration and skin surface pH remained unchanged. Improved barrier function correlated with enhanced epidermal involucrin and loricrin expression, and lamellar body production. Moreover, epidermal antimicrobial pepetide, CAMP expression, remarkably increased after topical applications of optimized formulation. These results demonstrate that this optimized inexpensive formulation can effectively improves epidermal permeability barrier function by stimulating epidermal differentiation, lamellar body production, as well as cutaneous antimicrobial peptide production. This optimized formulation could be widely used as inexpensive regimen in prevention and treatment of skin disorders characterized by permeability barrier dysfunction in addition to as a conventional skin care product, especially for developing countries.
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