Abstract
The pathophysiology of contact dermatitis includes specific morphological and physiological changes in the skin as a result of the direct toxic effect of exogenous agents and the subsequent inflammatory cascade. These reactions can be quantified by a variety of noninvasive devices. Classical biophysical methods such as the assessment of transepidermal water loss, stratum corneum hydration, and laser Doppler flowmetry are widely used in the investigation, quantification, and discrimination of irritant and allergic reactions of the skin.
Novel in vivo techniques such as in vivo Raman spectroscopy have emerged, and the body of evidence on the skin microstructure is growing. Visualization techniques, e.g., reflectance spectroscopy and optical coherence tomography, are employed in studying the morphological changes in the skin of allergic reactions. Irritant and allergic contact dermatitis are both an active field for research and development novel methods in the characterization of cutaneous response.
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize the current knowledge on the morphological, functional, and biochemical composition of the skin in allergic and irritant skin reactions.
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Fluhr, J.W., Darlenski, R. (2020). Noninvasive Techniques for Quantification of Contact Dermatitis. In: Johansen, J., Mahler, V., Lepoittevin, JP., Frosch, P. (eds) Contact Dermatitis. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72451-5_63-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72451-5_63-1
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