Acid phosphatase staining of the stratum corneum as a marker of damage by low irritancy compounds.

Biopsies of stratum corneum were taken from twenty-four human volunteers, who had been patch tested for 3 h with two experimental detergent solutions coded A and B. The histochemical method for acid phosphatase demonstrated that both solutions damaged the stratum corneum, A more than B. It would seem that the staining reaction for acid phosphatase in the stratum corneum is a marker of the response of cells to damage by low irritancy compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]