Sennott, H., A. Makwana, J. Kubilus, and M. Klausner. Presence of Hydrocortisone Dramatically Affects Cytokine Production Following UV Irradiation in 3-Dimensional Skin Model EpiDermÔ . J. Invest. Dermatol. 1997. 108(4): 665. Abst. #765. [Reprinted by permission of Blackwell Science, Inc.]

hydrocortisone - 00050-23-7

Dating back to work originally done by Rheinwald and Green, hydrocortisone (HC) is commonly used in culture media for epithelial cells, especially keratinocytes. In the culture of EpiDerm, a highly differentiated, three-dimensional model of the human epidermis, this additive is included in the culture media. However, HC is a glucocorticoid, known for its anti-inflammatory efficacy. As such, it is expected that HC would affect the model's production of cytokines, specifically those cytokines that have been implicated in skin inflammation and irritation reactions. Thus, the effect of HC on cytokine release was studied in EpiDerm following exposure to UVA and UVB. With HC present (+HC), non-cytotoxic doses of UVB (up to 80 mJ/cm²) induced increase of: a) 11.5x interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-Ira), b) 5.5x IL-8, and c) 9.7x prostaglandin E-2 (PGE-2) in the medium beneath the cultures, without HC(-HC), increase of 4.0x, 14.6x, and 7.0x were measured for IL-1ra, IL-8, and PGE-2, respectively. For non-cytotoxic UVA irradiation up to 45 J/cm², no increases in PGE-2 or IL-1a were measured, however, -HC cultures showed increases of up to 6.4x and 1.6x, respectively; also IL-1ra increased by 1.7x in +HC and by 2.7x in -HC, but IL-8 was unaffected (maximum increase 1.9x). Thus, depending on the cytokine, the presence of HC can have a significant effect on cytokine production.