ICCVAM vouches for rLLNA
This article was originally published in The Rose Sheet
Executive Summary
The Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and other federal agencies have 180 days to respond to favorable recommendation for the reduced murine local lymph node assay, submitted by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Validation of Alternative Methods. Used to assess chemicals' potential to cause allergic contact dermatitis, the rLLNA "is sufficient to distinguish between skin sensitizers and non-sensitizers for testing situations that do not require dose-response information," ICCVAM says. Committee notes that the alternative strategy reduces animal use by 40 percent for each test compared with traditional multi-dose LLNA. ICCVAM's recommendation comes after consideration of a peer review panel report, public comments and feedback from its Scientific Advisory Committee on Alternative Toxicological Methods. The group also has turned over to its member agencies LLNA test method standards for "more efficiently evaluat[ing] the validity of modified test methods that are similar to the traditional LLNA.