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, inter-leukin-1α (IL-1α), 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-1α 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-1α 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-1α 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.

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Natural surfactant-based topical vehicles for two model drugs: Influence of different lipophilic excipients on in vitro/in vivo skin performance

“…Furthermore, ECVAM (European Center for Validation of Alternative Methods) in its validation study (Spielmann et al, 2007) endorsed the scientific validity of the EPISKIN TM test as replacement for the rabbit skin irritation method and EpiDerm TM method for identifying skin irritations as well. In this study, an in-house three dimensional human skin model, comprising a reconstructed epidermis with functional stratum corneum, comparable with mentioned above (Schäfer-Korting et al, 2008) was used.…”

“…Furthermore, we have assessed the in vitro permeation profiles of following model drugs: a salt of a weak acid (diclophenac sodium (DC), 1% (w/w)), known as an amphiphilic drug, and a weak base (caffeine (CF), 2% (w/w)), both sparingly soluble in water, aiming also to relate the physicochemical properties (water distribution mode and rheological behaviour) of the vehicles with their in vitro permeation through the reconstructed human skin models (artificial skin constructs, ASCs). In addition, an evaluation of the safety profiles of active samples in vitro was performed, using an alternative method for acute skin irritation test (a cytotoxicity assay) (Spielmann et al, 2007;Vinardell et al, 2008) and in vivo (test vehicles), employing the methods of skin bioengineering (Bárány, 2000b). In vivo parameters assessed prior and upon 24 h-treatment under occlusion, were: SC hydration (SCH) and transepidermal water loss (TEWL), as a measure of skin barrier properties and skin erythema index (EI), as an indicator of vehicle's irritant potential.…”