Time and Depth Resolved Visualization of the Diffusion of a Lipophilic Dye into the Hair Follicle of Fresh Unfixed Human Scalp Skin

July 2004 in “ Journal of Controlled Release ”

Ylva Y. Grams, Lynne Whitehead, P.A. Cornwell, Joke A. Bouwstra

lipophilic dye Bodipy FL C5 hair follicle human scalp skin confocal laser scanning microscopy CLSM cuticle epidermis pilosebaceous unit Bodipy

Studysummary This study demonstrates that confocal laser scanning microscopy can effectively visualize the rapid diffusion and penetration pathway of a dye into the hair follicle in fresh human scalp skin. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.

The study utilized on-line confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) to visualize the diffusion of a lipophilic dye, Bodipy® FL C5, into the hair follicle of fresh, unfixed human scalp skin. This method allowed for real-time imaging every 30 minutes over 16 hours, revealing that the dye penetrated quickly into the hair follicle gap and stained the cuticle, primarily from the gap rather than the surrounding epidermis. The technique overcame limitations of increased scattering and absorption in deeper skin layers and provided a new tool for monitoring distribution profiles in skin layers, aiding in the optimization of drug formulations for local delivery to the pilosebaceous unit.

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