Comparison of cytotoxicity in vitro and irritation in vivo for aqueous and oily solutions of surfactants

Abstract

The in vivo model on rabbit eyes and the in vitro cytotoxicity on fibroblasts were used to compare irritation effect of aqueous and oily (Miglyol 812) solutions of surfactants. Tween 20, Tween 80 and Cremophor EL were tested in different concentrations (0.1, 1 or 5%) and the in vitro test demonstrated that surfactants in oil are less cytotoxic than in aqueous solutions. In the in vivo study, the aqueous solutions of surfactants were characterized as non-irritant while small changes in conjunctiva were observed after application the oily solutions of surfactants and the preparations were classified as slightly irritant, however this effect was similar when Miglyol was applied alone. In conclusion, it is reported that the MTT assay does not correlate well with the Draize scores.

• Cytotoxicity
• Draize irritation test
• Miglyol 812
• non-ionic surfactants
• self-emulsifying oil

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the Medical University in Bialystok for help in conducting the in vitro test.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest and no financial disclosures.