title: The ECVAM international validation study on in vitro tests for acute skin irritation: report on the validity of the EPISKIN and EpiDerm assays and on the Skin Integrity Function Test.
abstract: ECVAM sponsored a formal validation study on three in vitro tests for skin irritation, of which two employ reconstituted human epidermis models (EPISKIN, EpiDerm), and one, the skin integrity function test (SIFT), employs ex vivo mouse skin. The goal of the study was to assess whether the in vitro tests would correctly predict in vivo classifications according to the EU classification scheme, "R38" and "no label" (i.e. non-irritant). 58 chemicals (25 irritants and 33 non-irritants) were tested, having been selected to give broad coverage of physico-chemical properties, and an adequate distribution of irritancy scores derived from in vivo rabbit skin irritation tests. In Phase 1, 20 of these chemicals (9 irritants and 11 non-irritants) were tested with coded identities by a single lead laboratory for each of the methods, to confirm the suitability of the protocol improvements introduced after a prevalidation phase. When cell viability (evaluated by the MTT reduction test) was used as the endpoint, the predictive ability of both EpiDerm and EPISKIN was considered sufficient to justify their progression to Phase 2, while the predictive ability of the SIFT was judged to be inadequate. Since both the reconstituted skin models provided false predictions around the in vivo classification border (a rabbit Draize test score of 2), the release of a cytokine, interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha), was also determined. In Phase 2, each human skin model was tested in three laboratories, with 58 chemicals. The main endpoint measured for both EpiDerm and EPISKIN was cell viability. In samples from chemicals which gave MTT assay results above the threshold of 50% viability, IL-1alpha release was also measured, to determine whether the additional endpoint would improve the predictive ability of the tests. For EPISKIN, the sensitivity was 75% and the specificity was 81% (MTT assay only); with the combination of the MTT and IL-1alpha assays, the sensitivity increased to 91%, with a specificity of 79%. For EpiDerm, the sensitivity was 57% and the specificity was 85% (MTT assay only), while the predictive capacity of EpiDerm was not improved by the measurement of IL-1alpha release. Following independent peer review, in April 2007 the ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee endorsed the scientific validity of the EPISKIN test as a replacement for the rabbit skin irritation method, and of the EpiDerm method for identifying skin irritants as part of a tiered testing strategy. This new alternative approach will probably be the first use of in vitro toxicity testing to replace the Draize rabbit skin irritation test in Europe and internationally, since, in the very near future, new EU and OECD Test Guidelines will be proposed for regulatory acceptance.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Alternative Methods (ZEBET), Berlin, Germany. horst.spielmann@bfr.bund.be
authors.forename: Horst
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Spielmann
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liebsch
authors.forename: Phil
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Botham
authors.forename: Julia H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Fentem
authors.forename: Chantra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eskes
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roguet
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cotovio
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Worth
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heylings
authors.forename: Penny
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robles
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kandárová
authors.forename: Armin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gamer
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Remmele
authors.forename: Rodger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Curren
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Raabe
authors.forename: Amanda
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cockshott
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gerner
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zuang
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000826:Animal Testing Alternatives; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D007509:Irritants / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000517:prevention & control; D012879:Skin Physiological Phenomena
chemical_list: D007509:Irritants