Development of an objective comedogenicity assay

The rabbit ear comedogenicity assay is useful as a screening procedure for evaluating agents that come in contact with human skin. Controversy exists regarding the reliability of this assay because of differences in results from various laboratories. The subjective nature of the standard method of grading may also contribute to this variation. We use a more objective comedogenicity assay that utilizes increasing follicular orifice size on the rabbit ear as a measure of comedogenic activity. A generally linear increase in the degree of follicular orifice area was noted with several agents evaluated over a four-week application period. Further, a noninvasive Silastic elastomer mold was used to allow measurement of the same follicular orifice areas over time.