AN IN VITRO METHOD FOR SCREENING ANTI-IRRITANTS ON UV AND CHEMICALLY TREATED, RECONSTITUTED, THREE DIMENSIONAL HUMAN SKIN.

A great need exists in the cosmetics industry for in vitro screening methods that can provide accurate predictions of potential product or ingredient irritation. A variety of in vitro methods exist that utilize cell cultures, some of these focusing on the effects of irritants on specific cytokine release. However, these are not suitable for the evaluation of finished products because most product forms applied directly to cells would be cytotoxic. Living skin equivalents contain a differentiated epidermis and a stratum corneum, to which formulations can be applied. With the commercial availability of these cultures, it became feasible to routinely use them in developing screening methods for testing complete formulations prior to in vivo testing. The aim of the present work is to determine biological markers that could be used in this in vitro model for screening anti-irritant materials. A number of standard irritant materials, including SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate) and UV light, have been routinely used in dermatological research, and these were utilized in our studies. Cell viability and interleukin-1α release by the epidermal cells in these cultures were selected as the indicators of irritation. Results obtained from testing anti-irritants against SDS in this model are also compared with those obtained from in vivo testing using the same materials.

3-D, 3-Dimensional, Anti-irritants, Cell viability, Cytokines, Differentiated epidermis, EpiDerm, IL-1a, In Vitro, Ingredient irritation, Ultra-violet radiation (UV)