Three in vitro tests for chemical sensitisation will soon be ready to be evaluated by the European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) and may provide some alternatives to the current in vivo tests for sensitisation to be phased out in 2013, state Colipa.
The association has been funding an independent research programme on alternative approaches to animal testing since 1992 in response to the EU marketing ban on cosmetic ingredients tested on animals to come into force from 2009.
In the last few years Colipa has identified the testing and prediction of a chemical's skin sensitisation potential - its potential to cause an allergic reaction in a user - as a priority and funding has been increased accordingly in order to meet the 2013 deadline.
The association has already stated that no one test will be able to replace the current animal methods; instead it is looking for a portfolio of tests to provide the necessary information.
Two of the three tests in question are based on the effect of the chemicals on dendritic cells - cells of the immune system found in large quantities in the skin.
The first of the two - the human cell line activation test (h-CLAT) - was developed by two Japanese companies and has been tested on five laboratories since 2004. According to Colipa its reproducibility and transferability were basically considered satisfactory.
The second of the tests was developed by L'Oreal and Cosmitol SA (Proctor and Gamble) in collaboration with LVMH and will now undergo reproducibility tests in other laboratories, said Colipa.
The third concentrates on the predictive potential of a chemical's reactivity towards proteins on its potential for sensitisation.
Regarding this third test developed by Proctor and Gamble, in collaboration with the University of Strasbourg, France, demonstrated that stronger allergens tend to have higher peptide reactivity, leading to the idea that such a test may be a useful prediction of sensitisation.
In addition, Colipa have identified three main gaps in the hunt for alternative tests for skin sensitisation and the association has recently called for research tenders on these areas.
These areas include the investigation into the inflammatory signals elicited by sensitizers when applied to the skin, the effect of these signals on dendritic cells and the molecular basis of the interaction between sensitizers and dendritic cells.
Furthermore, the trade association has announced it will continue to collaborate with the European Union sponsored Sens-it-iv research project, charged with finding alternatives to animal testing.
