[ON LANOLIN. 8. ON THE CHARACTERIZATION OF A PHOSPHOLIPID FROM LANOLIN].
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Lanolin has been applied to human skin from at least Egyptian times. Its virtues as an emollient and vehicle for cosmetics and drugs have been extolled for centuries. 50 years ago, a fly was found in the ointment--the first case of lanolin allergy was reported (1). Since then lanolin has achieved considerable notoriety as a contact sensitizer. Dozens of articles in the dermatologic literature emphasize the high frequency of lanolin allergy. European dermatologists seem to have become especially sensitized to lanolin allergy. Medical students learn early on, that medicaments in lanolin bases are hazardous. Every novice knows that lanolin is a sensitizer! The nadir of lanolin's fall from grace has been reached in advertisements of topical drugs which emphasize the absence of lanolin in the vehicle. These denouncements by dermatologists have not slowed down the demand for lanolin. About 2 billion pounds of finished cosmetics contain lanolin or its derivatives. It is impossible to reconcile this expanding market with the apprehensions of skin doctors. It is my intention to review the history of lanolin allergy, to present experimental data on its contact sensitizing potential and to put the risk of lanolin allergy in perspective.
Several puzzling aspects of the use of lanolin are discussed as "lanolin paradoxes', in analogy with the 'paraben paradoxes'. Lanolin in topical therapeutic agents sensitizes a high proportion of patients, whereas the same lanolin is 'safe' in cosmetics so widely used by millions of individuals. Patients with an allergic contact dermatitis to lanolin in a medication applied to a stasis ulcer can nevertheless use lanolin-containing cosmetics and not experience a reaction. Lanolin-sensitive individuals often show false-negative patch test reactions to unaltered lanolin. Patch testing with 30% wool wax alcohols used in the standard patch test tray cannot be considered a reliable method for detecting and confirming lanolin allergies. There are too many false-positive and false-negative results using the standard patch test tray.
A total of 80 partial-thickness wounds (4.4 cm2 size, 400 micron deep) was inflicted by electrokeratome in the dermal skin layer of four piglets, 15 kg body weight. The wounds were treated with gauze (control), lanolin cream (Lanolor or Lanolin with emulsifiers, Squibb) or with human epidermal growth factor (EGF) delivered in lanolin cream (10 micrograms EGF/mL cream). The treatment was applied every 12 hours for 12 to 120 hours after wounding. The reepithelization rate of the wound was determined by standardized morphometric method. In addition, we measured the thickness of the dermis and cell counts in the dermis. We found that most of the statistically significant enhancement of the epithelization rate, thickness of the dermis, and higher cell count in the dermis were attributed to the effect of lanolin cream alone. The additional significant enhancement of healing by EGF over that of lanolin alone was documented in one of our experiments, but was only marginal. In another experiment using another commercial formulation of lanolin, we found no difference between the effect of EGF and lanolin. Several hypotheses were suggested to explain the effect of the two tested lanolin cream formulations, which induced strong inflammatory reaction in the wound.
The purpose of the present study was to compare the frequency of lanolin allergy during two periods and to assess the adequacy of testing with one standard allergen. Among 1230 consecutive patients with eczema who were standard patch tested, 33 (2.7%), 21 females and 12 males, gave a positive reaction to wool alcohols. Among 899 consecutive patients with eczema standard patch testd and also tested with the lanolin derivatives hydrogenated lanolin 30% in soft yellow paraffin, Amerchol L 101, and a mixture of lanolin derivatives, 60 patients (6.6%), 48 females and 12 males, gave a positive reaction to lanolin and/or its derivatives. The results show that testing with one standard lanolin allergen is inadequate for detecting lanolin allergy.
Patients with a previous contact allergy to lanolin (wool alcohols and/or Amerchol L 101) were patch tested 1 to 4 years later with lanolin allergens, as well as purified anhydrous lanolin contained in a commercial cream. At this retest, only 20 out of 33 patients with a previous contact allergy to lanolin reacted to lanolin allergens, and only 1 to the purified lanolin (as is). None reacted to the commercial cream containing 6% purified lanolin, this being ascertained by patch test as well as by usage test. To avoid bias at reading, patch tests were applied in a randomized computer-based order and read blindly.
The number of patients with dermatitis from applied betamethasone-17-valerate ointment, which incorporated hydrogenated lanolin, rapidly increased in Japan after 1971. On patch testing, the incidence of hypersensitivity to hydrogenated lanolin is significantly higher than to anhydrous lanolin at the 1% level, that is 5.20% (26/502) with the former and 1.99% (10/502) with the latter, although sensitivity to both materials is significantly related at the 0.5% level. The possible explanations considered are that hydrogenated lanolin contains three main allergens: the first is a group of lanolin alcohols which are the common eczematogens in anhydrous lanolin; the second refers to the products of hydrogenation, composed of saturated, easily oxidized, organic substances of low molecular weight; and the third refers to traces of nickel, copper and chromium, as a result of contamination in the hydrogenation process.
Lanolin has the reputation of being an important contact sensitizer. The market place abounds with products that are labeled "lanolin free". In fact, lanolin is at most a weak contact allergen. The supposed hazards of sensitization to lanolin products are a resultant of faulty science and failure to appreciate the limitations of patch testing. Lanolin allergy is a myth created mainly by overzealous professional patch testers. No one has succeeded in sensitizing animals or humans to lanolin or wool wax alcohols. Most of the case reports are false positives, in association with the angry back syndrome.
Volatile fatty acids (C2-C7) analysis in wool scouring water and lanolin is presented. These substances are of major interest as malodorous compounds in urban and industrial wastewaters. In this work, they have been analysed in wool scouring water by headspace solid-phase microextraction followed by gas chromatography negative chemical ionisation mass spectrometry. Most of the volatile fatty acids have been identified at microg g(-1) levels. In addition, since lanolin is a major impurity of raw wool, volatile fatty acid patterns of wool scouring water and lanolin have been compared in order to establish the origin of these compounds in the wastewater. Finally, the efficiency of the deodorization step, mandatory to obtain commercial lanolin, has been assessed taking into account the decrease in volatile fatty acid content from the raw wool to the lanolin.
In this study, the efficiency of a clean-up method by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) for the separation of pesticides from lanolin is analyzed. The pesticides analyzed belong to two different families, organophosphorous and synthetic pyrethroids. Lanolin, a standard mixture of the pesticides, and a lanolin-pesticides mixture are injected in a GPC column. The recoveries and elution times from the GPC column of lanolin (by a gravimetric method) and pesticides (by gas chromatography-electron capture detector) are determined. From this column, a good separation of the lanolin-pesticides mixture is observed.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of hydrogel dressings for the prevention and treatment of nipple soreness in lactating women as compared with the common intervention of lanolin ointment. The hypothesis was as follows: Participants using hydrogel dressings as a preventive measure for nipple soreness will experience greater pain relief and a lower rate of nipple wounds as compared with the control group. The secondary hypothesis was that the reduction of nipple soreness in the treatment group would produce a longer duration of breastfeeding as compared with the control group. DESIGN: A multicentered, prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial evaluating a sample of 106 lactating mothers. SETTING: Study sites were the University of Alabama Medical Center at Birmingham (an inner-city teaching hospital) and Northeast Health System (a community hospital in Beverly, Massachusetts). PARTICIPANTS: Participants were older than age 18, fluent in English, and had an operational telephone in the residence. Other inclusion criteria were singleton, vaginal deliveries; no prior breastfeeding experience; and written informed consent. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to either the lanolin ointment or the hydrogel dressings group and received instructions specific to their assignment. All participants received breastfeeding education provided by a board-certified lactation consultant. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: During the initial 12 study days, participants identified pain intensity using a numeric pain intensity scale and verbal descriptor scale. Subjective data were collected via self-reported skin assessments of the bilateral breasts, nipples, and areolae. Breastfeeding duration was established by a follow-up telephone call at 2 months. RESULTS: The hydrogel dressings group had significantly greater reduction in pain score mean values at baseline, on study Day 10, and on study Day 12 in comparison to the control group. Participants using the hydrogel dressings discontinued treatment sooner than participants in the lanolin ointment group. The lanolin ointment group had eight breast infections, whereas the hydrogel dressings group had none. CONCLUSION: Hydrogel dressings are a safe, available treatment that provided more effective pain management for nipple soreness than the common intervention of lanolin ointment.