Table 2.

SC cohesional activity of phytocera-H in human skin

Treatment	TEWL after 24 h of treatment	TEWL after tape stripping	Number of tape strippings
None	11.2 ± 1.9	35.3 ± 3.3	27.2 ± 6.9
C18-ceramide NP	11.0 ± 2.7	35.5 ± 2.9	29.8 ± 7.6
Phytocera-H	11.1 ± 1.9	35.3 ± 3.0	38.7 ± 12.0*

Notes: Through topical application of phytocera-H, significantly increased SC cohesion resulted. From the result, it was suggested that the integrity of SC was significantly reinforced by the treatment of phytocera-H. Data are expressed as the mean ± SEM.

^*p < 0.05.

Abbreviations: SC, stratum corneum; phytocera-H, horse fat oil-derived ceramide; TEWL, transepidermal water loss; NP, N-stearoyl phytosphingosine; SEM, standard error of the mean.