Workshop on the Chernoff/Kavlock preliminary developmental toxicity test.

The Chernoff/Kavlock assay, proposed as a preliminary screen for teratogenic potential, was the subject of a 2-day workshop sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Data from three large testing programs were presented, representing tests of 165 chemicals, of which 33 were tested at least twice. Applications of the test in industrial laboratories and product development, hazard identification, and risk assessment were discussed. Workshop participants recognized the assay as one of several valid ways to preliminarily evaluate chemicals with unknown developmental toxicity. Other preliminary tests were also discussed in terms of their relationship to this test, which was seen as having the advantage of providing information on neonatal viability. Other techniques, particularly an abbreviated conventional teratology study, were also recognized as appropriate screens. The preferred test in a particular laboratory will be dependent upon the particular skills and objectives of that laboratory. Standardized protocols were suggested, but flexibility in experimental design was considered necessary, and many variations on the basic test could be appropriate. This preliminary test has been used most often as a single-dose test in mice, but might provide more generally useful data if conducted in rats using two dose levels. Workshop participants viewed the test as highly reliable in correctly identifying developmentally toxic chemicals and suggested that a negative finding in a properly conducted Chernoff/Kavlock test could be a sufficient basis for regulatory agencies to determine that conventional teratology tests in the same species are not warranted.

A summary of the results of 55 chemicals screened for developmental toxicity in mice.

Fifty-five chemicals, including known teratogens, known embryotoxins, equivocal teratogens, nonembryotoxins, and nonteratogens, as well as compounds of unknown teratogenic or embryotoxic potential, were evaluated in the Chernoff/Kavlock developmental toxicity screen. All chemicals were administered by gavage to pregnant ICR/SIM mice on gestation days 8 through 12. The mice were allowed to deliver, and several neonatal growth and viability parameters were measured in the offspring. Comparative statistical analysis of these parameters between treated animals and concurrent (vehicle-treated) controls provided a data base to evaluate the validity of the developmental toxicity screen as an assay to detect teratogens and embryotoxins. Of the 26 compounds reported in the literature to be teratogenic or embryotoxic in mice following oral administration, 24 were positive in the developmental toxicity screen. Of the compounds previously tested in conventional assays and found to be devoid of teratogenic or embryotoxic activity in mice, 93% were negative in the developmental toxicity screen. The importance of experimental design, dose selection, and neonatal growth and viability measurements as they relate to interpretation and evaluation of the results of the developmental toxicity assay are discussed.

Validation of an in vivo developmental toxicity screen in the mouse.

A test system for identifying toxicity, including potential teratogenicity has been developed that is based on growth and viability of embryonic, fetal, and postnatal mice (J Toxicol Environ Health 10:541-550, 1982). To test the utility of this assay, a series of 55 compounds was administered to timed-pregnant ICR/SIM mice during organogenesis. The test compounds included known teratogens, known nonteratogens, and equivocal teratogens. They represented a wide variety of classes including pesticides, organic solvents, metals, steroids, nutrients, food additives, antimetabolites, alkylating agents, and pharmaceutical agents. A single dose level, at or near the level producing overt maternal toxicity in preliminary range-finding studies, was administered by gavage on gestation days 8 through 12. Females were allowed to deliver; litter size and weight on the day of birth and 2 days postpartum were recorded, and stillborns were examined. Dams that had not given birth by gestation days 21 or 22 were killed and their uteri were examined. The results confirmed a strong correlation between reported teratogenic activity and embryo/fetal viability, and/or postnatal growth and viability. The results indicate that this test system is an effective, cost-efficient means of prioritizing compounds for more detailed teratogenicity testing.