Abstract

Cosmetics support a well-balanced quality of life of consumers by improving their outer appearance or repressing unpleasant attributes such as inordinate sweating or smelling. Especially sweating may be socially stigmatizing when becoming excessive. However, the biological mechanisms behind perspiration are not completely understood. The only effective cosmetic antiperspirant technology to reduce sweating is based on the use of aluminum salts, which lately became publicly misperceived. Henkel Beauty Care developed a sophisticated in vitro model of the human eccrine sweat gland to screen for and identify new antiperspirant technologies substituting these aluminum salts. This proprietary cell model combines all the relevant sweat gland cells in a three-dimensional (3D) environment.
In verification tests of the cell model the in vitro simulation of both, stimulation of the sweating process and its inhibition, were shown. Further, this 3D model was used for screening of sweat-regulating actives. Thereby, we focused on the change of certain ion-levels within the cells upon treatment with potential inhibitors. Positively screened potential antiperspirant substances were subsequently tested in vivo revealing a striking in vitro / in vivo correlation.
A new biologically potent antiperspirant technology is on its way to the consumer successfully replacing the common aluminum salts.