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Skin corrosion and irritation test of sunscreen nanoparticles using reconstructed 3D human skin model
Jonghye Choi1, Hyejin Kim1, Jinhee Choi2
1College of Pharmacy, Dongduk Women's University, Seoul, Korea.
Objectives:
Effects of nanoparticles including zinc oxide nanoparticles, titanium oxide nanoparticles, and their mixtures on skin corrosion and irritation were investigated by using in vitro 3D human skin models (KeraSkin ((TM)) ) and the results were compared to those of an in vivo animal test.
Methods:
Skin models were incubated with nanoparticles for a definite time period and cell viability was measured by the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2.5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide method. Skin corrosion and irritation were identified by the decreased viability based on the pre-determined threshold.
Results:
Cell viability after exposure to nanomaterial was not decreased to the pre-determined threshold level, which was 15% after 60 minutes exposure in corrosion test and 50% after 45 minutes exposure in the irritation test. IL-1α release and histopathological findings support the results of cell viability test. In vivo test using rabbits also showed non-corrosive and non-irritant results.
Conclusions:
The findings provide the evidence that zinc oxide nanoparticles, titanium oxide nanoparticles and their mixture are 'non corrosive' and 'non-irritant' to the human skin by a globally harmonized classification system. In vivo test using animals can be replaced by an alternative in vitro test.
