In Vivo Penetration of Bare and Lipid-Coated Silica Nanoparticles Across the Human Stratum Corneum
 August 2014   
in “
 Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces 
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    silica nanoparticles  stratum corneum  bare hydrophilic silica  hydrophobic lipid-coated silica  tape stripping  Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis  Inductively Coupled Plasma quadrupole Mass Spectrometry  skin penetration  hair follicle density  transfollicular route  silica NPs  SC  B-silica  LC-silica  EDX analysis  ICP-MS   
   
   TLDR  Lipid-coated silica nanoparticles penetrate human skin more deeply than bare silica nanoparticles.   
  The study examined the penetration of two types of silica nanoparticles (NPs) through the human stratum corneum (SC): bare hydrophilic silica (B-silica) and hydrophobic lipid-coated silica (LC-silica). It involved 5 healthy Caucasian volunteers (3 female and 2 male, aged 20-62). The NPs were applied to the forearms and analyzed using tape stripping, Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, and Inductively Coupled Plasma quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). The study found that only about 10% of B-silica penetrated the deepest SC layers, while LC-silica showed greater penetration (about 42% on the volar forearm and 18% on the dorsal forearm). The results indicated that NP surface polarity significantly affects skin penetration more than size, with hydrophobic LC-silica penetrating deeper into the SC. The study concluded that the hydrophilic character of silica NPs causes retention in the superficial SC layers, and hair follicle density does not significantly affect penetration, suggesting that the transfollicular route is not a major pathway for NP penetration within the examined size range.