Biocides

Existing Substances

Notification of New Substances

Toxicology

In vitro Techniques

Regulatory Affairs

Toxicology Consultancy

 

In vitro Techniques

The search for alternatives continues and is guided by the principle of the 3 R’s:

  • Replacement - to replace animal procedures with non-animal techniques wherever possible
  • Reduction - to minimise the number of animals used
  • Refinement - the way experiments are carried out, to make sure animals suffer as little as possible

Huntingdon Life Sciences is committed to the 3 R’s approach and few laboratories in the world can match our range of studies or depth of experience. We are a supporter of the Fund for the Replacement of Animal Experiments (FRAME) with extensive collaborations over the past 25 years. We have also participated in validating trials for the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) and are an active member of the In vitro Testing Industry Platform (IVTIP).

We can offer a range of studies for screening and pre-regulatory purposes.

Irritation and corrosivity assays

  • Bovine corneal opacity and permeability (BCOP)
  • Fluorescein leakage using MDCK cells
  • Neutral red uptake/release assay using a variety of cell lines including L929, 3T3 Chorioallantoic membrane test (CAM)
  • MatTekTM , EpidermTM
  • Under validation are rat skin transcutaneous electrical resistance (TER) and 3T3 NRU phototoxicity

Genetic Toxicology

  • Bacterial assays using a range of S. typhimurium and E. coli strains
  • Mammalian cell mutation assays
  • Chromosome aberration tests
  • Single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet) assay
  • Fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH)
  • Cell cycle analysis

Teratogenicity Screening assays

  • Rat embryo culture

In Vitro Metabolism

  • Interspecies comparative metabolism
  • Selective human cytochrome P450 metabolism
  • Human cytochrome P450 inhibition

Immunology

  • Lymphocyte blastogenesis assays
  • Chemotaxis assay
  • Natural killer cell chromium release assay
  • Macrophages phagocytosis assays
  • Flow cytometry

Dermal Penetration

  • Flow-through and static diffusion cells
  • Rat/human isolated skin systems

Lead Optimisation

  • hERG ion channel
  • In silico safety modelling
  • Caco-2 absorption models
  • Protein binding
  • High throughput bacterial gene mutation assays

Microbiology

  • Endocrine disrupters - recombinant yeast screens for oestrogenic and androgenic activity
  • Micro-titre plate anti-bacterial and anti-fungal MIC tests
  • Total viable counts
  • Absence of microbial pathogens
  • Efficacy of anti-microbial preservatives