Efficacy of corticosteroids in acute experimental irritant contact dermatitis?
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Updated: Aug 2, 2026
An In Vitro Skin Irritation Test (SIT) using the EpiDerm Reconstructed Human Epidermal (RHE) Model
Published on: July 13, 2009
1Department of Dermatology, University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, CA 94143-0989, USA.
Background/Aims:
Topical corticoids are used to treat irritant contact dermatitis (ICD) in humans. However, their clinical efficacy remains sub judice. This study was designed to assess the efficacy of low- and medium-potency corticosteroids on irritant dermatitis.
Methods:
We induced an acute ICD via open application of sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) on the hands of subjects. The dorsal side of hands was irritated with 10% SLS five times in one day. Once on day 1 and twice daily on days 2-5, 1% hydrocortisone, 0.1% betamethasone-17-valerate and vehicle cream (petrolatum) were applied subsequently. Visual grading, bioengineering techniques and squamometry were used to quantify skin response.
Results:
Corticosteroids were found ineffective in treating the surfactant-induced irritant dermatitis when compared with the vehicle and with the untreated control.
Conclusion:
The counterintuitive result (in a relatively realistic and robust model) should be interpreted with caution until verified with other irritants of varying physicochemical properties.
