INVESTIGATION OF AN IN-VITRO CYTOTOXICITY ASSAY FOR PREDICTION OF SKIN IRRITATION

The ability of in vitro cytotoxicity to predict in vivo skin irritation was examined using three cell types and a set of previously examined chemicals with in vivo skin irritation data. There was concordance in ranking of the test chemicals according to their cytotoxicity between primary human keratinocytes (NHEK), NCTC 2544 and MDCK cells. When compared against rabbit in vivo skin irritation data, cytotoxicity to NHEK in serum-free media showed a better correlation (r(2) = -0.833) than the cell lines or NHEK in serum-containing medium. These are encouraging results for the use of cytotoxicity as an endpoint for the in vitro prediction of skin irritation.