Sensitizing capacity of three methyl alkanesulphonates: a murine in vivo and in vitro model of allergic contact dermatitis.

A murine model for in vivo and in vitro studies of contact sensitization to methyl alkanesulphonate derivatives has been developed. Contact sensitivity was quantified in vivo by measuring the ear thickness increase, and the influence of the alkyl chain length (hexyl, dodecyl, hexadecyl) was investigated. Long chain methyl alkanesulphonates (dodecyl and hexadecyl) are strong sensitizers, while the shorter alkyl chain, methyl hexanesulphonate, is a weak sensitizer. In vitro lymphocyte blastogenesis was measured by the 3H-thymidine uptake and exhibited a stimulation index between 2 and 8. The results nicely parallelled the in vivo sensitization measurements, except for methyl dodecanesulphonate. This could be explained by the cytotoxic activity of this compound, the most toxic of the three methyl alkanesulphonates tested. Thus, murine sensitization to methyl alkanesulphonates provides a good model system for preliminary investigations of delayed type hypersensitivity mechanisms.