Skin, drug and chemical reactions

Several drugs and chemicals applied to the skin result in some local reaction by the skin to the applied compound or its formulation. These reactions may range from generalized reactions as characterized by an adaptive immune or allergic response to a specific reaction such as to light to a localized alteration in the barrier properties of the outermost physical skin barrier, the stratum corneum. This overview considers the mechanisms by which the skin reacts to various chemicals it becomes exposed to, giving some examples of how the interactions can occur, the compounds involved, and chemical structure activity relationships associated with the interaction between specific compounds and the skin.

Section editor:Michael Roberts – School of Medicine, University of Queensland, Australia