EVALUATION OF EPIDERM™ AS A MODEL TO STUDY IRRITATION AFTER EXPOSURE TO VARIOUS ALIPHATIC HYDROCARBONS FOUND IN JET FUELS.

This study by scientists at Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy, Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy, and MatTek Corp. demonstrated that MatTek’s EpiDerm in vitro human skin tissue equivalent is an excellent in vitro alternative to animal testing for evaluating the skin irritation potential of chemicals and jet fuels. JP-8 has been recognized as a major source of chemical exposure for fuel-cell maintenance workers. It constitutes > 85% of aliphatic hydrocarbons (C-8 to C-14). These chemicals penetrate the skin in significant quantities and repeated exposures can damage the skin tissue leading to molecular changes and contact dermatitis. Occupational exposures may occur during fuel transport, aircraft fueling and refueling, aircraft maintenance, cleaning and degreasing of the fuel. There have been a number of reports on skin irritation and immune suppression effects of jet fuels demonstrated in rats, mice and other animal models. There is a great concern in using animals in toxicological research and therefore alternative in vitro methods to evaluate the toxicity potential of the chemicals are sought. EpiDerm (EPI-200, MatTek Corporation) is an in vitro alternative skin model used in Dermal Corrosion, Skin Irritation, and Dermal Phototoxicity studies. EPI-200 is a culture of normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEK) grown on a collagen-coated substrate in chemically modified, Dulbecco’s minimum eagle medium at the air-liquid interface. The objective of the present study by scientists at Florida A&M University College of Pharmacy, Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy, and MatTek Corp. is to identify the most irritant chemicals of JP-8 using EpiDerm (EPI-200) as a model of skin irritation and dermal corrosion. The tissue viability, structure, and expression of interleukin-1a (IL-1a) and Tumor necrosis factor – (TNF-a) following dermal exposures were used as parameters to evaluate the skin irritation potential of various jet fuels and chemicals. Overall, the experiments demonstrated that EpiDerm can be used as a valuable model to evaluate the skin irritation potential of chemicals and jet fuels.

Aliphatic hydrocarbons, Contact dermatitis, Dermal corrosion, EPI-200, EpiDerm, Hazardous materials, IL-1a, Immune suppression, Irritation, JP-8, Jet fuel, Jet fuel exposure, MTT, MTT assay, Nonane, Normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEK), Skin irritation, TNF-a, Tetradecane, Toxicity, Toxicological

Decane, Dodecane, Hexadecane, JP-8, Nonane, Tetradecane, Tridecane, Undecane