Do Topically Applied Skin Creams Containing Retinyl Palmitate Affect the Photocarcinogenecity of Simulated Solar Light?

 

PETER P. FU 1*, PAUL C. HOWARD 1, SANDRA J. CULP 1, QINGSU XIA 1, PEGGY J. WEBB 1, LONNIE R. BLANKENSHIP 1, WAYNE G. WAMER 2 AND JOHN R. BUCHER 3

1.Division of Biochemical Toxicology, National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, AR 72079, U.S.A.,
2. Office of Cosmetics and Colors, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD 20740, U.S.A., and
3. National Toxicology Program, NIEHS, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, U.S.A.

§ This article is not an official guidance or policy statement of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or National Toxicology Program (NTP). No official support or endorsement by the U.S. FDA and NTP is intended or should be inferred.

(Received:October 3, 2002; Accepted: November 11, 2002)

 

Retinyl palmitate (all-trans-retinyl palmitate; RP) was nominated in 2001 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) to the National Toxicology Program (NTP) as a high priority compound for phototoxicity and photocarcinogenicity studies at the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR). Studies with SKH-1 hairless mice are required to test whether topical application of RP enhances the phototoxicity and photocarcinogenicity of simulated solar light and UV light. Mechanistic studies are needed to provide insight into the disposition of RP in vitro and on the skin of mice, and to test thoroughly whether genotoxic damage by UV-induced radicals may participate in any toxicity of topically applied RP in the presence of UV light.