Test of Surfactant-Based Dermal Wound Cleansers on Sulfur Mustard-Exposed Human Keratinocytes in an In Vitro Wound Healing Model

Sulfur mustard is a chemical warfare agent that causes vesication in human skin. These blisters make the victims more susceptible to infection and delay healing of the skin. The first step in treating wounds is to cleanse the wound to prevent infection. Many dermal wound cleaners are commercially available, but little research has been conducted using these products in conjunction with SM-induced cutaneous injury. This study evaluated the impact of using commercially available wound cleansers on SM-induced wounds, in an in vitro wound healing model consisting of normal human epidermal keratinocytes seeded into six-well plates, exposed to sulfur mustard, and wounded disruption of the cell monolayer with a sterile wounding instrument. Cells were stained and images captured to measure percent wound fill. Pluronic F-68 surfactant and the dermal wound cleansers Saf-ClensTM and Shur-Clens were tested. Neither Shur-Clens nor 10 and 20 Pluronic F-68 surfactant increased wound fill, but the treatments did not harm the cells in the non-wounded areas. Saf-ClensTM killed the cells after one 2-minute treatment. Shur-Clens may not promote wound healing, but could be safely used, unlike Saf-ClensTM, to cleanse sulfur mustard-induced wounds. Other dermal wound cleansers should be used judiciously until proven nontoxic to keratinocytes.