Effect of dicarboxylic acids on normal human melanocytes in dispersed tissue culture*

Abstract

Since dicarboxylic acids are competitive inhibitors of tyrosinase, and effective in treatment of hyperpigmentary disorders, such as chloasma and lentigo maligna, probably due to a cytotoxic effect on abnormal melanocytes, it is of interest to examine their effect on normal melanocytes in tissue culture. Azelaic or dodecandioic acids were added (150-200 micrograms/ml) to dispersed cultures of epidermal cells, and melanocytes were examined by electron microscopy after 7, 10, 15, 20 and 30 days. Apart from a stimulation of melanogenesis, the presence of dicarboxylic acids in the culture medium caused no detectable damage to melanocytes, nor did they prevent growth of a second generation of cells.