title: Increased proliferation of skin cells by sublethal doses of sodium lauryl sulfate.
abstract: Most quantitative in vitro approaches to determine irritancy have examined the potential of compounds to decrease biological functions or inhibit growth of cells. Irritants, however, are known to generally have the opposite effect in vivo, i.e. to stimulate cell division. This property has not been directly studied in vitro. We examined the ability of sublethal concentrations of sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) to stimulate cultured keratinocyte and fibroblast proliferation in vitro. The growth of keratinocytes, without added growth factors, continuously exposed to SLS for 4 days was stimulated approximately 89% compared to control. Keratinocytes exposed to SLS for 1 or 18 h were stimulated 36 and 12%, respectively, over the next 4 days of growth. Subconfluent fibroblasts were also stimulated approximately 38%. Confluent fibroblasts were stimulated 40%. All stimulations were maximal between 10(-8) and 10(-5) M added SLS. Media conditioned by keratinocytes exposed to 10(-8) M SLS were able to increase the growth of naive keratinocytes by 117%. In all experiments doses of SLS > 10(-5) M inhibited cell growth. We conclude that sublethal doses of SLS can stimulate the growth of cultured keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The stimulation of growth seen may be related to the stimulation observed in in vivo irritation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0730.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bloom
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sznitowska
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Polansky
authors.forename: Z D
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: H I
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Maibach
mesh_terms: D002452:Cell Count; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003470:Culture Media; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D012867:Skin / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects*; D012967:Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000633:toxicity; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2; D012967:Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate