On-line diffusion profile of a lipophilic model dye in different depths of a hair follicle in human scalp skin.

In skin and hair research, drug targeting to the hair follicle is of great interest in the treatment of skin diseases. The aim of this study is to visualize on-line the diffusion processes of a model fluorophore into the hair follicle at different depths using fresh human scalp skin and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Up to a depth of 500 microm in the skin, a fast increase of fluorescence is observed in the gap followed by accumulation of the dye in the hair cuticle. Penetration was also observed via the stratum corneum and the epidermis. Little label reached depths greater than 2000 microm. Fat cells accumulated the label fastest, followed by the cuticular area and the outer root sheath of the hair follicle. Sweat glands revealed very low staining, whereas the bulb at a depth of 4000 microm was visualized only by autofluorescence. From this study, we conclude that on-line visualization is a promising technique to access diffusion processes in deep skin layers even on a cellular level. Furthermore, we conclude that the gap and the cuticle play an important role in the initial diffusion period with the label in the cuticle originating from the gap.