Toxicity assay in repeated doses of Dermatophagoides siboney allergen extract in mice.

Allergen extracts are used for hyposensitivity and immunotherapy treatments, reducing significantly clinical symptoms of allergic diseases. Because of its wide use in immunoallergen therapy, we evaluated the Dermatophagoides siboney allergen extract to establish the potential toxicity following repeated subcutaneous dosing in Cenp:NMRI mice. Animals were randomly distributed into two groups, control (vehicle) and treated (166.6 UB/animal), and they were observed daily for clinical signs of toxicity following treatment. Body weight was weekly measured. At the end of the study, blood samples were collected for hematology and serum chemistry analysis and animals were euthanized for gross necropsy and histological examination of tissues. There were not significant differences in body weight or hematology parameters between control and treated animals. Differences were noted in uric acid, blood urea nitrogen and glucose; however, these alterations were not considered to be of biologic relevance. Pathology evaluations demonstrated hemorrhagic and inflammatory lesions at the administration site in both experimental groups. We conclude that repeated dosing of 166.6 UB did not cause significant toxic effects in the mouse model.

Assessment of skin and eye irritation of 14 products under the stepwise approach of the OECD.

The determination of acute eye and skin irritation is included in international regulatory requirements for the testing of chemicals, because of the possibility of exposure during the production, transport, marketing, and disposal of products. Although there have been some advances in the areas of refinement and reduction, no single battery of tests has emerged as being acceptable as a complete replacement for the conventional Draize rabbit eye and skin irritation tests. Currently, dermal irritation and ocular irritation are generally evaluated in a sequential manner in the context of tiered assessment strategies. In this work, we show how 14 products, mostly designed to be used in agriculture, were evaluated in the Center of Experimental Toxicology of the Center for the Production of Laboratory Animals (Centro Nacional para la Producción de Animales de Laboratorio; CENPALAB) in order to assess their acute dermal and ocular effects. The performed studies include the acute dermal toxicity test, the acute dermal irritation/corrosion test, the hen's egg test-chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) method, and the acute eye irritation/corrosion test. In general, it could be concluded that of the 14 products assessed, none of them showed systemic effects, but local reactions mainly to the eyes. The most significant effects were apparently related to the effects of azadirachtin, an active principle of 2 tested neem derivatives.