Assessing Skin Barrier Integrity: A Comparative Study Using Transepidermal Water Loss, Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy and Corneometry

BACKGROUND: Skin barrier disruption can be induced through experimental models, yet standardised comparisons are scarce. Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and corneometry (CM) are established methods to quantify barrier impairment. Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a novel approach, which may provide complementary information. OBJECTIVES: To compare EIS against TEWL and CM and to assess different barrier disruption models in humans in vivo. METHODS: 15 healthy adults (7 female, 8 male; median age 27 years) were recruited. Experiment I compared 3 adhesive tapes for tape stripping (TS). Experiment II evaluated TS, 0.5% sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), SLS + TS, and gluten using TEWL, EIS, and CM. RESULTS: D-Squame tape caused stronger barrier impairment than Scotch and Tesa (TEWL p < 0.01, EIS p < 0.05). SLS + TS induced the most (8 h: TEWL p < 0.001; EIS p < 0.05; CM p < 0.05) and persistent disruption (24 h: TEWL p < 0.05, EIS p < 0.05), followed by TS (8 h: TEWL p < 0.01; EIS p < 0.05). SLS and aqua caused minor, non-significant effects; gluten had no measurable impact. EIS correlated strongly with TEWL (ρ = -0.62, p < 0.0001) and CM (ρ = -0.61, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: This first human study of EIS after experimental barrier disruption demonstrated strong concordance with TEWL and CM. Combined mechanical and chemical stress best reflects real-life barrier insults and represents a potent model.