Histological Study on the Effect of Electrolyzed Reduced Water-Bathing on UVB Radiation-Induced Skin Injury in Hairless Mice

Abstract

Electrolyzed reduced water (ERW), functional water, has various beneficial effects via antioxidant mecha- nism in vivo and in vitro. However there is no study about beneficial effects of ERW bathing. This study aimed to determine the effect of ERW bathing on the UVB-induced skin injury in hairless mice. For this purpose, mice were irradiated with UVB to cause skin injury, followed by individually taken a bath in ERW (ERW-bathing) and tap water (TW-bathing) for 21 d. We examined cytokines profile in acute period, and histological and ultra- structural observation of skin in chronic period. We found that UVB-mediated skin injury of ERW-bathing group was significantly low compared to TW control group in the early stage of experiment. Consistently, epider- mal thickening as well as the number of dermal mast cell was significantly lowered in ERW-bathing group. De- fection of corneocytes under the scanning electron microscope was less observed in ERW-bathing group than in TW-bathing group. Further, the level of interleukin (IL)-1b, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a and IL-12p70 in ERW group decreased whereas those of IL-10 increased. Collectively, our data indicate that ERW-bathing signif- icantly reduces UVB-induced skin damage through influencing pro-/anti-inflammatory cytokine balance in hair- less mice. This suggests that ERW-bathing has a positive effect on acute UVB-mediated skin disorders. This is the first report on bathing effects of ERW in UVB-induced skin injury.

Study details

Article type

Original Research

Disease / injury model

UVB-induced skin injury (acute skin inflammation and damage)

Duration

21 days

Dose comparison

No dose/concentration comparison of ERW; only one ERW condition used.

Dose-dependent effect

No

Outcome

Positive

Findings

ERW-bathing significantly reduced UVB-induced skin damage in hairless mice, as evidenced by lower skin injury scores, reduced epidermal thickening, fewer dermal mast cells, less corneocyte damage, decreased pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-1b, TNF-a, IL-12p70), and increased anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10) compared to tap water bathing.