In Vitro Cytotoxicity and Phototoxicity Assessment of Acylglutamate Surfactants Using a Human Keratinocyte Cell Line

Abstract

In the current study, human keratinocyte cell line was used as in vitro cell culture model to elucidate the effects of the fatty acid chain length of acylglutamate (amino acid-based surfactant) namely, sodium cocoyl glutamate, sodium lauroyl glutamate, and sodium myristoyl glutamate on their cytotoxicity and the ultraviolet B induced phototoxicity. The endpoint used to assess toxicity was a tetrazolium-based assay whereas, the phototoxic potential of acylglutamate surfactants was predicted using two models namely, the Photo-Irritation Factor and Mean Photo Effect. The results of this study showed that the fatty acid chain length of acylglutamate greatly influences toxic effects on human keratinocyte cells. In addition, all the acylglutamate surfactants tested on human keratinocyte cells demonstrated significantly less cytotoxicity (when irradiated and non-irradiated with ultraviolet B light; p < 0.05) and no phototoxic potential was observed in any of the acylglutamate surfactants, when compared with the positive control chlorpromazine. In conclusion, the in vitro studies confirm the suitability of sodium lauroyl glutamate destined for the synthesis and stabilization of lipid nanoparticles.

Keywords

• amino acid-based surfactants
• human keratinocytes
• cutaneous phototoxicity
• photo-irritation factor
• mean photo effect
• lipid nanoparticles