Inman, A.O. and N.A. Monteiro-Riviere. Morphological Characterization of Ultraviolet B Phototoxicity in the Isolated Perfused Porcine Skin Flap. The Toxicologist 1994. 14: 104.

Sunburn erythema in humans is the acute result of ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation. Histologically, cutaneous UVB damage may be quantitated by the sunburn cells (SC), a cell containing a glass, densely staining cytoplasm with a pyknotic nucleus. The isolated perfused porcine skin flap (IPPSF), an in vitro model was used to assess mid wave UVB (312 nm) phototoxicity. The IPPSF (n=4/treatment) was irradiated with UVB doses of 1260 mJ/cm², 630 mJ/cm², 315 mJ/cm², and 0mJ/cm² and phototoxicity was assessed by counting the number of SC along a unit length of epidermis. The respective mean numbers of SC ± SE were 1.35 ± 0.21, 0.93 ± 0.18, 0.89 ± 0.13, 0.38 ± 0.24, indicating a dose-response trend in the IPPSF. Ultrastructurally, SC in the IPPSF compare favorably to the SC found in human epidermis exposed to UVB. The findings indicate that the IPPSF is an in vitro model to assess UVB-induced phototoxicity.