In vitro eye irritancy test of lauryl derivatives using the reconstructed rabbit corneal epithelium model

The rabbit corneal epithelium model (RCE model) was developed as a three-dimensional in vitro model to replace animal testing for the assessment of eye tolerance. In the model, a stratified culture of rabbit corneal epithelial cells is grown at the air–liquid interface on an amniotic membrane acting as a parabasal membrane. The alkaline exposure was restored each day in the presence of no irritants, although with the addition of SLS, which is a major irritant, the restoration of deficit was inhibited on the RCE model in a dose-dependent manner. The results of this test were comparable with those of the Draize test, and thus, this method using the RCE model may prove to be a useful and sensitive in vitro eye irritation test. The lauryl fatty chain derivatives, such as polyoxyethylene (9) lauryl ether (PLE), sodium polyoxyethylene (2) lauryl ether sulfate (SPLE), mono glyceryl laurate (MGL), and sodium N-lauroyl-l-glutaminate (SLG), which are widely used as surfactants for toiletry products and cosmetics, were evaluated for in vitro eye irritation potential using the RCE model. SLS, PLE, SPLE, MGL, and SLG inhibited 88.7%, 59.2%, 69.0%, 47.5%, and 15.7% of the restoration of deletion 24 h after treatment at a concentration of 0.05%. The IC50 (50% inhibitory concentration) values of SLS, PLE, SPLE, MGL, and SLG were 0.002%, 0.021%, 0.005%, 0.056%, and 0.448%, respectively. These results indicated that a functional group at the end of lauryl chain is an important factor for inhibiting the restoration of deletion using the RCE model.