SKIN REACTIONS

Abstract

It is customary to consider that the glands of the hair follicles furnish the most important living membrane through which materials may pass through the skin.¹ However, the fact that the comparatively large molecules of ragweed and timothy extract may be readily transported by electrophoresis into the human skin² led to a reexamination of the channels which take part in the transport of materials in the human skin.³ It was pointed out that in reality three main channels must be considered: (1) the pores, or coils, of the sweat glands; (2) the hair follicles and the sebaceous glands, and (3) the skin itself, that is, the keratin matrix linking the structures mentioned in (1) and (2). It was shown that by means of electrophoresis of positively charged dyes like methylene blue (methylthionine chloride) and of negatively charged dyes like azosulfamide (disodium 4-sulfamidophenyl-2′-azo-7′-acetylamino-1′-hydroxynaphthalene-3′,6′-disulfonate), and phenolsulfonphthalein, it was possible