DABMEB Consultancy Ltd, Sharnbrook MK44 1PR, UK.
Contact Dermatitis. 2013 May;68(5):269-72. doi: 10.1111/cod.12007. Epub 2013 Apr 16.
Dimethylfumarate (DMF) was the cause of a major outbreak of allergic contact dermatitis as a consequence of its use as an antifungal agent in leather products, particularly in furniture, with what became known as 'toxic sofa dermatitis'.
To determine whether the frequency and severity of reactions to DMF arose as a function of its intrinsic potency and/or the nature and extent of exposure.
The intrinsic potency of DMF was measured with the standard local lymph node assay (LLNA), with determination of an EC3 value, which is the threshold in the LLNA and serves as an indicator of relative skin-sensitizing potency in humans.
The EC3 value for DMF was 0.35% when tested in dimethylformamide as a vehicle, indicating that DMF is a strong, but not an extreme, skin sensitizer in this mouse model.
DMF appears to have a sensitizing potency in the mouse that is very similar to that of formaldehyde, which is also a strong human skin sensitizer. However, the frequency and intensity of allergic contact dermatitis reactions to DMF suggest that it was the prolonged, repeated and occlusive exposure to this chemical over large skin areas, combined with the strong sensitizing potency, that generated the 'perfect storm' conditions that caused the DMF epidemic.
富马酸二甲酯（DMF）是一种抗真菌剂，用于皮革制品，特别是家具，导致了一场严重的过敏性接触性皮炎爆发，这种情况被称为“毒沙发性皮炎”。
确定 DMF 反应的频率和严重程度是否是由于其内在效力以及暴露的性质和程度引起的。
使用标准的局部淋巴结测定法（LLNA）测定 DMF 的内在效力，确定 EC3 值，该值是 LLNA 的阈值，是人类相对皮肤致敏效力的指标。
当以二甲基甲酰胺为载体进行测试时，DMF 的 EC3 值为 0.35%，这表明 DMF 在这种小鼠模型中是一种强，但不是极强的皮肤致敏剂。
DMF 在小鼠中的致敏效力似乎与甲醛非常相似，甲醛也是一种强烈的人类皮肤致敏剂。然而，DMF 引起的过敏性接触性皮炎反应的频率和强度表明，正是长时间、重复和封闭性地暴露在这种化学物质中，覆盖了大面积的皮肤，再加上强烈的致敏效力，导致了引发 DMF 流行的“完美风暴”条件。
