OBJECTIVETo study the cellular and molecular mechanism of gasoline-induced adverse effects on skin, particularly on keratinocyte and fibroblast in vitro.

METHODSThe primary cell culture of keratinocyte and fibroblast were treated with 0, 0.001%, 0.01%, 0.1% and 1.0% gasoline, respectively. (3)H-thymidine ((3)H-TdR), (3)H-leucine ((3)H-Leu), (3)H-proline ((3)H-Pro) and (14)C-linoleic acid incorporation tests were applied to elucidate their capacity of synthesizing DNA, protein and sebum.

RESULTSThe incorporation of (3)H-TdR in keratinocyte and (3)H-TdR and (3)H-Pro in fibroblast inhibited significantly after exposure to 0.01% gasoline (P < 0.05), with inhibition rates 68.5%, 45.1% and 40.6% for (3)H-TdR in keratinocyte, and (3)H-TdR and (3)H-Pro in fibroblast, respectively. Significant depression in incorporation of (3)H-Leu and (14)C-linoleic acid in keratinocyte were found even in the group treated with 0.001% gasoline (P < 0.05), with inhibition rates of 20.2% and 41.2%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONSSolvent gasoline has certain toxic effect on keratinocyte and fibroblast, intervening their normal metabolic and physiological process and affecting their ability of synthesizing DNA, protein and sebum, and their physiological functions, which could be one of the mechanisms causing skin damage by gasoline. The results also indicated that keratinocyte was more susceptible to gasoline than fibroblast.