skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: An epidermal equivalent assay for identification and ranking potency of contact sensitizers

Journal Article · · Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [2];  [3]; ;  [4]; ;  [5];  [6]
  1. Department of Dermatology, VU University Medical Centre, Dept of Oral Cell Biology, ACTA, Amsterdam (Netherlands)
  2. Laboratory of Toxicology, DiSFeB, Università degli Studi di Milano (Italy)
  3. CellSystems GmbH, Troisdorf (Germany)
  4. MB Research Labs, Spinnerstown, PA (United States)
  5. MatTek Corporation, Ashland, MA (United States)
  6. 3Rs Management and Consultancy (Denmark)

The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of combining the epidermal equivalent (EE) potency assay with the assay which assesses release of interleukin-18 (IL-18) to provide a single test for identification and classification of skin sensitizing chemicals, including chemicals of low water solubility or stability. A protocol was developed using different 3D-epidermal models including in house VUMC model, epiCS® (previously EST1000™), MatTek EpiDerm™ and SkinEthic™ RHE and also the impact of different vehicles (acetone:olive oil 4:1, 1% DMSO, ethanol, water) was investigated. Following topical exposure for 24 h to 17 contact allergens and 13 non-sensitizers a robust increase in IL-18 release was observed only after exposure to contact allergens. A putative prediction model is proposed from data obtained from two laboratories yielding 95% accuracy. Correlating the in vitro EE sensitizer potency data, which assesses the chemical concentration which results in 50% cytotoxicity (EE-EC{sub 50}) with human and animal data showed a superior correlation with human DSA{sub 05} (μg/cm{sup 2}) data (Spearman r = 0.8500; P value (two-tailed) = 0.0061) compared to LLNA data (Spearman r = 0.5968; P value (two-tailed) = 0.0542). DSA{sub 05} = induction dose per skin area that produces a positive response in 5% of the tested population Also a good correlation was observed for release of IL-18 (SI-2) into culture supernatants with human DSA{sub 05} data (Spearman r = 0.8333; P value (two-tailed) = 0.0154). This easily transferable human in vitro assay appears to be very promising, but additional testing of a larger chemical set with the different EE models is required to fully evaluate the utility of this assay and to establish a definitive prediction model. - Highlights: • A potential epidermal equivalent assay to label and classify sensitizers • Il-18 release distinguishes sensitizers from non sensitizers • IL-18 release can rank sensitizer potency • EC50 (chemical concentration causing 50% decrease in cell viability) ranks potency • In vitro: human DSA{sub 05} correlation is better than in vitro: LLNA correlation.

OSTI ID:
22285444
Journal Information:
Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Vol. 272, Issue 2; Other Information: Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0041-008X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English