RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: There are various alternative in vitro irritancy tests for substituting animal experiment. However, there is no standardized method or guideline for assessing in vitro cytotoxicity. OBJECTIVES: In order to predict toxicity on human skin, an experimental model was evaluated for the cutaneous cytotoxicity using living skin equivalents(LSE). METHODS: After applying test substances (SLS, various plant extracts) on LSE, morphological examination and MTT reduction assay was done. RESULTS: The results showed that cytotoxicity of SLS using LSE was well correlated with the concentration of SLS. Furthermore, characteristic histologic findings were observed according to the increasing concentrations of test materials. CONCLUSION: These results showed that LSE can be used as an alternative model to replace animal model for cytotoxicity testing.