fig3

Figure 3. Edafence^® protects against xenotoxic pollutants in ex vivo experimental models of skin integrity. Human Skin Organ Culture (hSOC) belongs to human skin biopsy samples from aesthetic surgeries. It was chosen as an experimental model to investigate the potential protective effects of this extract against exemplary chemical contaminants, including Toxic Chemical Elements (TCE: As and Cr) and dioxins. A: micrographs of H-E stained sections from hSOCs treated as indicated. Note severe morphological alterations induced by prolonged exposure (seven days) to common air pollutants, including Toxic Chemical Elements (TCE: 9 mmol/L As + 0.5 mmol/L Cr) and dioxins (10 nmol/L 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzen-p-dioxin). Note apparent subepidermal blister (SEB, arrows) in TCE-treated cells; exposure to dioxin also causes significant disorganization of epidermal layers (arrows). These alterations, indicative of a critical loss of skin function, are effectively prevented by Edafence^® (2.5 mg/mL). Bars: 50 µm; B: immunofluorescent staining of sections of hSOCs treated as indicated. Immunolocalization of the epithelial cell-cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin (ECCD1) confirms the extensive structural alterations of suprabasal epidermal layers induced by TCE/dioxin exposure and the protective effect against them conferred by the aqueous extract of Deschampsia antarctica treatment. Bars: 50 µm. Adapted from^[82]