 |
| Enter Our Monthly Contest! |
|
Each month, a single Customized Technology Services
(CTS) test will be given away at random.
Enter Now!
|
|
| |
|
What is the Irritection Assay System? MORE INFO
The Irritection Assay System is a standardized,
quantitative invitro test method that can be employed
to detect, rank, and predict the ocular and/or dermal irritation
potential of cosmetics, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and
chemical raw materials. This advanced technology enhances and replaces
the Company's earlier Eytex and Skintex
products.
Why Use the Irritection Assay System?
- The Irritection Assay System provides a reliable
alternative to the traditional animal tests of ocular and/or dermal
irritancy, and is considerably less expensive than in
vivo tests.
- Irritection data may be obtained in as little as 5 hours, versus
the standard 2-3 weeks required for in vivo studies.
Rapid results provide quicker feedback on formulation changes
and significantly decrease product development times.
- The Irritection assays are quantitative and highly reproducible,
thus allowing comparative ranking of samples and formulations
with great accuracy.
- Prior studies have demonstrated that the Irritection assay results
are highly correlated with those obtained in standard Draize tests.
Ocular Irritection Assays
The corneal irritancy of test materials is known to be related
to their propensity to promote denaturation and disruption of corneal
proteins. The Ocular Irritection Assay System is
an in vitro test method that mimics these biochemical
phenomena. This test consists of two essential components:
- A membrane disc that permits controlled delivery of the test
material to a reagent solution and;
- A proprietary reagent solution that is composed of proteins,
glycoproteins, lipids and low molecular weight components that
self-associate to form a complex macromolecular matrix.
Controlled mixing of the test material and the reagent solution
during the assay incubation period promotes protein denaturation
and disaggregation of the macromolecular matrix.
The changes in protein structure that are induced by the test material
may be readily quantitated by measuring the resulting changes in
turbidity (OD405) of the reagent solution.
Comparison of these optical density measurements to those produced
by standard chemical irritants permits calculation of an "irritancy
score" that has been shown to be directly related to the potential
corneal irritancy of the test material.
Dermal Irritection Assays
 Chemicals that cause
dermal irritation are known to induce alterations in the structure
of keratin, collagen and other dermal proteins. The Dermal Irritection
Assay System is an in vitro test that
mimics these biochemical phenomena.
This test also consists of two components:
- A membrane substrate that has been modified by covalently crosslinking
a mixture of keratin, collagen and an indicator dye to it and;
- A reagent solution consisting of a highly organized globulin/protein
macromolecular matrix.
Application of an irritant chemical to the membrane disc disrupts
the ordered structure of keratin and collagen and results in release
of the bound indicator dye. Additionally, dermal irritants induce
changes in conformation in the globular proteins found in the reagent
solution.
The extent of dye release and protein denaturation may be quantitated
by measuring the changes in optical density of the reagent solution
at 450 nm (OD450).
Comparison of these optical density measurements to those produced
by standard chemical irritants permits calculation of an "irritancy
score" that has been shown to be directly related to the potential
dermal irritancy of the test material.
InVitro International
17751 Sky Park East, Suite G
Irvine, CA 92614
800-2-INVITRO (800-246-8487)
949-851-8356 (International callers)
949- 851-4985 Fax
invitro@invitrointl.com
|
|
