The objective of the submitted work was to assess the effect of hot air and/ or gamma irradiation following the application of a protein hair conditioner on the skin hygiene. Ninety six albino rats were employed. They were divided into eight groups; each included six males and six females. Rats in group 1 served as control . Rats of groups 2, 3 and 4were rubbed with conditioner for one, two and three times, respectively, every was separated by seven days. Following every treatment, the rats were exposed to hot air (95 ᵒC) for one minute. Rats in groups5,6 and 7 were treated in the same manner . After one week, they exposed to a single dose gamma irradiation (10 Gy). Rats in group 8 were treated once with conditioner and then directly exposed to the same dose. Post one week of irradiation, all rats were anesthetized and blood samples were collected for biochemical analyses, while shaven skin cuts from the centre protein applying area for histological examinations. Morphological observations revealed alopecia and skin ulcer. Whereas, the biochemical results indicated that serum collagen I contents decreased while heat shock protein concentrations increased as treatment repetitions. The level of vascular endothelial growth factor exhibited inconsistence trend. Histopathological observations confirmed the morphological findings.
In conclusion, there is no protein hair conditioner products that can be considered completely safe. It is worth to state that, it's time to give serious consideration for stopping these treatments to avoid the cumulative application risks.