Skin Toxicity Determined In Vitro By Three-Dimensional, Native-State Histoculture

The study described a gel-supported in vitro system for culturing skin samples in a three-dimensional native state, maintaining cell viability and architecture for at least 10 days. This system was used to measure skin toxicity using fluorescent dyes to differentiate between living and dead cells, with confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy assessing cell staining. The dose-response to ethanol, doxorubicin, and sodium hypochlorite was evaluated, showing a high correlation with in vivo skin toxicity for sodium hypochlorite. The study found hair follicle cells to be most sensitive to doxorubicin. This native-state model was proposed as a potential replacement for animal testing, offering rapid and cost-effective toxicity assessments of products, drugs, and pollutants on skin.