Hannu Komulainen

Alternative (non-animal) methods for cosmetics testing: Current status and future prospects-2010

The 7th amendment to the EU Cosmetics Directive prohibits to put animal-tested cosmetics on the market in Europe after 2013. In that context, the European Commission invited stakeholder bodies (industry, non-governmental organisations, EU Member States, and the Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety) to identify scientific experts in five toxicological areas, i.e. toxicokinetics, repeated dose toxicity, carcinogenicity, skin sensitisation, and reproductive toxicity for which the Directive foresees that the 2013 deadline could be further extended in case alternative and validated methods would not be available in time. The selected experts were asked to analyse the status and prospects of alternative methods and to provide a scientifically sound estimate of the time necessary to achieve full replacement of animal testing. In summary, the experts confirmed that it will take at least another 7–9xa0years for the replacement of the current in vivo animal tests used for the safety assessment of cosmetic ingredients for skin sensitisation. However, the experts were also of the opinion that alternative methods may be able to give hazard information, i.e. to differentiate between sensitisers and non-sensitisers, ahead of 2017. This would, however, not provide the complete picture of what is a safe exposure because the relative potency of a sensitiser would not be known. For toxicokinetics, the timeframe was 5–7xa0years to develop the models still lacking to predict lung absorption and renal/biliary excretion, and even longer to integrate the methods to fully replace the animal toxicokinetic models. For the systemic toxicological endpoints of repeated dose toxicity, carcinogenicity and reproductive toxicity, the time horizon for full replacement could not be estimated.

Cytogenetic effects of 3-chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(50H)-furanone (MX) in rat peripheral lymphocytes in vitro and in vivo

3-Chloro-4-(dichloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone (MX) is a potent direct-acting Salmonella mutagen found in wood pulp chlorination effluents and chlorinated drinking water. In cultured rat peripheral lymphocytes, MX induced significant dose-related increases in sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) and chromosome aberrations at doses of 20-60 micrograms/ml and of 60-80 micrograms/ml, respectively. MX produced primarily chromatid-type as opposed to chromosome-type aberrations. The peripheral lymphocytes of male and female rats exposed to MX by gavage 5 days a week for 14-18 weeks showed significant dose-related increases in SCEs at both levels of exposure (30 and 45-75 mg/kg) in both sexes. The present results demonstrate for the first time that MX is genotoxic in vivo.

Synergistic proinflammatory interactions of microbial toxins and structural components characteristic to moisture-damaged buildings

Indoor exposure to microbes and their structural and metabolic compounds is notoriously complex. To study proinflammatory interactions between the multiple microbial agents, macrophages derived from human THP-1 monocytic cells were exposed to several concentrations of microbial toxins alone (emodin, enniatin B, physcion, sterigmatocystin, valinomycin) and in combination with microbial structural components (bacterial lipopolysaccharide [LPS] or fungal β-glucan). While the expression of proinflammatory cytokines TNFα and IL-1β to single toxins alone was modest, low-dose co-exposure with structural components increased the responses of emodin, enniatin B, and valinomycin synergistically, both at the mRNA and protein level, as measured by RT-qPCR and ELISA, respectively. Co-exposure of toxins and β-glucan resulted in consistent synergistically increased expression of several inflammation-related genes, while some of the responses with LPS were also inhibitory. Co-exposure of toxins with either β-glucan or LPS induced also mitochondrial damage and autophagocytosis. The results demonstrate that microbial toxins together with bacterial and fungal structural components characteristic to moisture-damaged buildings can have drastic synergistic proinflammatory interactions at low exposure levels.

Effect of transition or heavy metals on [3H]haloperidol binding in rat striatal membranes in vitro.

Our previous experiments have shown that several metal cations affect dopaminergic uptake and release processes in synaptosomes in vitro. It is thus possible that other membrane-related steps of neurotransmission, such as receptor binding, are affected as well. We studied the effect of Mn2+, Cu2+, Cd2+, Zn2+, Hg2+, Pb2+ and of two organometals, methyl mercury and triethyl lead, on [3H]haloperidol binding in the striatal P2 fraction assuming that such a study would reveal direct effects of the ions on dopaminergic D2 receptor binding. According to non-linear curve fitting and Scatchard analysis, [3H]haloperidol bound to two sites in striatal tissue. The Kd of the higher affinity site was 0.14 +/- 0.05 nM and the Bmax 226.3 +/- 50.3 fmol/mg protein. The respective values for the lower affinity site were 2.49 +/- 0.56 nM and 678.3 +/- 111.4 fmol/mg protein. Among the divalent cations, Hg2+ (IC50 0.7 microM) and Cu2+ (IC50 2.9 microM) inhibited the high affinity [3H]haloperidol binding most potently. The inhibition by Cu2+ was due to a decrease in the binding affinity (increase in the Kd) while the number of binding sites remained unchanged. Zn2+ inhibited the binding by 41.8% and Cd2+ by 38.7% at 10 microM concentration while Pb2+ and Mn2+ did not affect binding significantly at this or lower concentrations. Methyl mercury (IC50 0.9 microM) and triethyl lead (IC50 2.6 microM) inhibited binding as well. Both these organometallic cations decreased the binding affinity but did not change significantly the number of binding sites.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

3H-dopamine uptake and 3H-haloperidol binding in striatum after administration of methyl mercury to rats

Methyl mercury inhibits dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) uptake by brain synaptosomes and decreases antagonist binding to striatal dopaminergic D2 receptors in vitro. To assess the effects in vivo, adult rats were given methyl mercury, either as a single dose (10 mg/kg by gavage) or a cumulative total dose of 50 mg/kg in 2 weeks. The repeated dosing decreased body weight and caused neuromuscular dysfunction. In spite of this overt toxicity, neither 3H-DA uptake nor 3H-haloperidol binding changed in striatal synaptosomes. There were no significant alterations in 3H-5-HT uptake by hypothalamic synaptosomes or 3H-flunitrazepam binding in cerebellar synaptosomes. The results suggest that monoaminergic synapses and the benzodiazepine binding sites, associated with cerebellar GABA receptors, remain functionally normal at doses of methyl mercury that are otherwise toxic. The results also emphasize the importance of due care when extrapolating cellular or biochemical data to the level of the whole organism.