The differentiation of the sebaceous gland is remarkably species-specific and sebocytes may play crucial parts in the pathophysiologic processes and disorders of pilosebaceous unit SZ95 cell is an immortalized human sebaceous gland cell line that shows characteristics of normal human sebocytes, In this study, we investigated the effect of testosterone and the anti-androgenic effect of 13-cis-retinoic acid (13-cis-RA) on lipid synthesis in SZ95 cells. Cytoplasmic lipid droplets were shown by Oil-red staining. The majority of the SZ95 cells positively labeled with Oil-red dye, while HaCaT cells negatively labeled with Oil red dye. Total lipid level of SZ96 cells is higher 4 times than that of HaCat cells. Testosterone markedly increased 2 times lipid synthesis of SZ95 cells in compared with control. 13-cis-RA significantly inhibited lipid synthesis and cell proliferation in SZ95 cells. Combined treatment with testosterone and 13-cis-RA resulted in a lower total lipid levels than that with androgen alone. In conclusion, SZ95 cells well resembled the morphologic and functional characteritics of normal human sebocytes. This in vitro model could provide a valuable tool for the study of sebocytes with a key role in pathophysiology and differentiation of sebaceous glands.