THE MOUSE EAR AS A MODEL FOR CUTANEOUS IRRITATION

In the past two decades, a number of papers and monographs have dealt with different aspects of inflammation. These include laboratory models for the testing of anti-inflammatory drugs, experimental models of inflammation, etc. Many models of inflammation have been developed, but those that involve the skin offer a particular advantage. In particular for the screening of new drugs for the topical treatment of inflammatory skin diseases, strong emphasis should be placed on mouse ear models. In the following I shall deal with skin irritants, with mouse ear edema, and with the different types of mouse ear inflammation models, including irritation induced with croton oil, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), cantharidin, mustard oil, arachidonic acid, dithranol (anthralin), capsaicin, ethyl phenylpropiolate (EPP), interleukin-1 (IL-1), zymosan, or carrageenin.