Penetration of aluminium salts through pig skin in vitro

Background: Recently it was suggested to use aluminium chloride hexahydrate in petrolatum at 10% to detect aluminium contact allergy. Patch testing with aluminium chloride hexahydrate at 20% did not demonstrate a higher number of positive test reactions. It was speculated that the constricting effect of aluminium salts might impair skin penetration. Objectives: The purpose of the present study is to estimate the concentration of aluminium in various skin layers and in the recipient phase using different aluminium test preparations on pig skin in an in vitro diffusion cell system. Methods: Full-thickness (7sim; porcine ear skin was mounted in Franz-type diffusion cells. The diffusional area was 0.64 cm2 and recipient volume 4 ml. The dermal side was exposed to a recipient solution consisting of PBS (phosphate buffer saline, pH 7.4). Aluminium chloride hexahydrate preparations in petrolatum and in water at 10% were applied to the donor compartment facing the epidermis for 24 hr. All samples were analysed for total aluminium by atomic absorption spectrometry. The limit of detection was 0.01 μg/ml. Results: No aluminium could be detected in the recipient phase in the six diffusion cells. Conclusions: Neither aluminium in petrolatum nor in water gave detectable amounts of penetrating aluminium in 24 h. The lipophilicity of the vehicle was not decisive

Is contact allergy to disperse dyes and related substances associated with textile dermatitis?

Summary Background Disperse dyes (DDs) are the most common sensitizers among textile dyes, but there is little knowledge of the clinical relevance of positive patch test reactions. Objective To investigate if patient-reported textile-related skin problems can be explained by contact allergy to eight different DDs and/or to chemically related substances, by occupation or by atopic constitution, and if the skin problems are influenced by age or sex. Methods A questionnaire on textile-related skin problems was answered by 858 of 982 consecutively patch tested patients in Malmö, Sweden and in Leuven, Belgium. The baseline series used for patch testing was supplemented with a textile dye mix (TDM) consisting of the eight DDs and with the separate dyes. The association between textile-related skin problems and contact allergy to the DDs and other risk factors was investigated using multiple logistic regression analysis. Results Eighteen per cent of the patients suspected textiles as a cause of their skin problems. Atopic constitution and female sex were risk factors for skin reactions. Synthetic materials were the most common textiles to give skin problems. A significant association was found between self-reported textile-related skin problems and contact allergy to para-phenylenediamine (PPD) [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.1; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0-4.3]. A similar, but more imprecise, adjusted OR was found for TDM (OR 1.9; 95% CI 0.57-5.6). Contact allergy to black rubber mix was too rare to be evaluated. Conclusions Contact allergy to PPD was a more prevalent indicator for skin reactions to textiles than the TDM used in this study