ABSTRACT: This study was planned to investigate the possible inhibitory effect of the oxygen radical scavenger agent desferrioxamin on 12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) induced oedema and hyperplasia in the skin of 119 CD-1 mice. Topical application of different doses of desferrioxamin (20 ng, 200 ng, 2 microg, 20 microg and 200 microg per mouse) 10 min prior to 1 nmol TPA, inhibited oedema of mouse ears significantly (P < 0.02-0.001) except with the doses of 200 ng and 20 ng/mouse. The inhibitory effect of desferrioxamin (2 mg/mouse) in TPA induced mouse skin hyperplasia was also investigated in four groups of 20 CD-1 mice. Desferrioxamin produced an 83.7% reduction in epidermal thickness (P