Tape stripping on a human nail: quantification of removal

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE

Tape stripping is commonly used to investigate the stratum corneum (SC). This study assesses if protein quantitative tape stripping method was suitable for human nails.

METHOD

We used a colorimetric method to quantify proteins removed by the tape. Water barrier functions as a result of tape stripping were also observed by changes in transonychial water loss (TOWL) from the baseline.

RESULTS

Using tape stripping, we observed no difference between nails in the protein quantity removed by tape stripping (P=0.39). The mean TOWL before and after tape stripping were 6.9 and 9.3 g/m2/h, respectively; this was significantly increased in tape stripped nails (P<0.0001).

CONCLUSION

Tape stripping seems to be an effective method to extract proteins from human nail plate and may aid the study of nail structure and function. Further studies are needed to extend our results in terms of age, gender, ethnicity and disease.