ASSESSMENT OF THE BIOCHEMICAL EFFECTS OF PERCUTANEOUS EXPOSURE OF SULFUR MUSTARD IN AN IN-VITRO HUMAN SKIN SYSTEM

1 Sulphur mustard (HD) is a potent chemical warfare agent which causes incapacitating blisters on human skin. There is no specific pretreatm ent nor therapy against this agent and the mechanism of dermo-epiderma l cleavage is unclear. The aim of this study was to use a human skin e xplant system to determine the consequences of percutaneous exposure t o HD. 2 Increased activities of serine proteases associated with blist ering disorders in humans were detected from human skin explants after exposure to HD. The most consistent response and the highest protease activities measured were found for trypsin. This class of enzyme is t herefore implicated in the dermo-epidermal separation which is associa ted with blistering in humans following exposure to HD. 3 An inflammat ory response was observed in the skin explants exposed to HD. At low d oses of HD it was characterised by the presence of neutrophils in the papillary dermis, culminating in the infiltration of the epidermis by these inflammatory cells at higher concentrations of HD. A variety of other histopathological changes in the explants was found such as foca l dermo-epidermal separation, nuclear pyknosis and perinuclear vacuola tion. 4 The study indicates that full thickness human skin explants ca n be used to investigate various aspects of the possible pathogenesis of HD-induced skin damage, including the associated inflammatory respo nse.