Comparison of various methods to analyse toxic effects in human skin explants: Rediscovery of TTC assay

Skin explants are a suitable model which can replace dermatological experiments on animals or human volunteers. In this study, we searched for a fast, cheap and reproducible method for screening skin explant viability after treatment with UVA radiation or/and chemical agents. We compared frequently used methods: 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT), neutral red (NR) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity assay with a rarely used 2,3,5-triphenyl-2H-tetrazolium chloride (TTC) assay for the evaluation of UVA radiation and/or chlorpromazine and 8-methoxypsoralen effect as model agents. Histological analysis of skin explants was also performed by a simple haematoxylin-eosin method. Only the TTC assay was able to show the toxicity of model agents in a dose- and concentration-dependent manner. LDH assay was partially able to demonstrate results comparable to the TTC method, however, the agents' effect was less pronounced. The MTT and NR assays completely failed in the evaluation. Haematoxylin-eosin staining showed discrete structural changes in samples treated with UVA alone and CPZ + UVA, but only after 48 h. Therefore, the method is not useful for screening of toxic or phototoxic effects either. In conclusion, the TTC assay was the most suitable for the evaluation of toxicity or phototoxicity in ex vivo skin.