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Measurement of transepidermal water loss from clipped and unclipped anatomical sites on the dog
Author(s) -
Oh WS,
Oh TH
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.2009.00481.x
Subject(s) - transepidermal water loss , beagle , clipping (morphology) , zoology , medicine , nuclear medicine , biology , pathology , linguistics , philosophy , stratum corneum
Objectives To establish a standardised clipping method for the measurement of transepidermal water loss (TEWL) with a VapoMeter® in Beagle dogs and to identify the optimal anatomical site for TEWL measurement. Procedure TEWL values obtained from skin sites on five healthy Beagles clipped using two different blade angles (standard vs non‐standard) were compared. TEWL values for 48 h were also obtained from seven different anatomical sites that had differing hair density. The hair was clipped in the intensively haired anatomical sites (head, lower and upper back and tail), but not clipped in the sparsely haired sites (ear, inguinal region, footpad). Results The TEWL values for the standard and non‐standard clipping sites were 6.3 ± 1.31 and 27.2 ± 1.11 g/h/m 2 , respectively. We found the upper back among the clipped sites was the most appropriate site for TEWL measurement over 48 h after clipping, whereas among the unclipped sites the ear was the most appropriate, because the TEWL values from those anatomical sites had the least fluctuation and were less affected by movement. Conclusion The clipping method and anatomical site should be standardised in order to minimise the experimental variation in TEWL measurement in dogs.