Method for observing sebaceous gland

A method for evaluating a sebum production-regulating action of a test substance, comprising the steps of:

• A. culturing, in a suspended state in a medium in the absence of the test substance, a sebaceous-gland-structure derived from a skin tissue, in which all or a portion of each of dermis and a subcutaneous tissue has been removed from the skin tissue,
• B. culturing, in a suspended state in a medium in the presence of the test substance, a sebaceous-gland-structure derived from a skin tissue, in which all or a portion of each of dermis and a subcutaneous tissue has been removed from the skin tissue, and
• C. observing the resulting cultured sebaceous-gland-structure A in the step A and the resulting cultured sebaceous-gland-structure B in the step B, and evaluating the sebum production-regulating action of the test substance on the basis of difference in dynamics of the sebaceous gland in the sebaceous-gland-structure A and dynamics of the sebaceous gland in the sebaceous-gland-structure B,
• wherein the difference in dynamics of the sebaceous gland in the sebaceous-gland-structure A and dynamics of the sebaceous gland in the sebaceous-gland-structure B is a difference in the number of cells containing sebum in an outermost layer of a sebaceous gland depending on the presence or absence of the test substance, a difference in differentiation speed of an undifferentiated sebaceous gland basal cell into a mature sebocyte in a sebaceous gland depending on the presence or absence of the test substance, a difference in the number of disintegrated mature sebocytes present near a central part of is sebaceous gland depending on the presence or absence of the test substance, a difference in an amount of sebum present near a central part of a sebaceous gland depending on the presence or absence of the test substance, a difference in a position where a differentiation marker is expressed depending on the presence or absence of the test substance, or a difference in an amount of expression of a differentiation marker depending on the presence or absence of the test substance.