Evaluation of the Hen's Egg Test–Chorioallantonic Membrane (CAM) Method in Prediction of the Eye Irritation Potential Formulated Personal Wash Products

Comparison between HET-CAM protocols and a product use clinical study for eye irritation evaluation of personal care products including cosmetics according to their surfactant composition

The hen's egg test on chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM) is one of the most frequently used alternative tests for prediction of ocular irritation of cosmetic products. There are different HET-CAM protocols widely accepted, but there is no information about which of the protocols better correlates with the results obtained in product use clinical study under the conditions of use. Two Fix Time Methods (FTM) -Lüepke and the ICCVAM guideline - and two Reaction Time Methods (RTM) -ECVAM DBALM Prot. No. 47 and No. 96- were employed to test 18 cosmetic products. Simultaneously, they were evaluated by an ophthalmological clinical test. A unified classification system was used, and products were classified into four irritation levels: non-irritant, weak, moderate and severe irritant. The duration of use (rinse-off or leave-on), and the concentration and type of surfactants were taken into account in the analysis. All the products that were classified as non-irritant by any HET-CAM protocols were also safe in the product use clinical study. The product that was found to be non-safe in the product use clinical evaluation was also unsuitable by most of the HET-CAM protocols. These results were employed to develop an algorithm that allows selecting the appropriate HET-CAM protocol for each type of product to be tested.

Utilisation of Chick Embryo Chorioallantoic Membrane as a Model Platform for Imaging-Navigated Biomedical Research

The fertilised chick egg and particularly its chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) have drawn continuing interest in biomedicine and bioengineering fields, especially for research on vascular study, cancer, drug screening and development, cell factors, stem cells, etc. This literature review systemically introduces the CAM's structural evolution, functions, vascular features and the circulation system, and cell regulatory factors. It also presents the major and updated applications of the CAM in assays for pharmacokinetics and biodistribution, drug efficacy and toxicology testing/screening in preclinical pharmacological research. The time course of CAM applications for different assays and their advantages and limitations are summarised. Among these applications, two aspects are emphasised: (1) potential utility of the CAM for preclinical studies on vascular-disrupting agents (VDAs), promising for anti-cancer vascular-targeted therapy, and (2) modern imaging technologies, including modalities and their applications for real-time visualisation, monitoring and evaluation of the changes in CAM vasculature as well as the interactions occurring after introducing the tested medical, pharmaceutical and biological agents into the system. The aim of this article is to help those working in the biomedical field to familiarise themselves with the chick embryo CAM as an alternative platform and to utilise it to design and optimise experimental settings for their specific research topics.

The chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay

During avian development the mesodermal layers of the allantois and chorion fuse to form the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). This structure rapidly expands generating a rich vascular network that provides an interface for gas and waste exchange. The CAM allows to study tissue grafts, tumor growth and metastasis, drugs delivery and toxicologic analysis, and angiogenic and anti-angiogenic molecules. The CAM is relatively simple, quick, and low-cost model that allows screening of a large number of pharmacological samples in a short time; does not require administrative procedures for obtaining ethics committee approval for animal experimentation. Moreover, being naturally immunodeficient, the chick embryo may receive transplantations from different tissues and species, without immune responses.

Chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM): an alternative predictive model in acute toxicological studies for anti-cancer drugs

The chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) is a preclinical model widely used for vascular and anti-vascular effects of therapeutic agents in vivo. In this study, we examine the suitability of CAM as a predictive model for acute toxicology studies of drugs by comparing it to conventional mouse and rat models for 10 FDA-approved anticancer drugs (paclitaxel, carmustine, camptothecin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, cisplatin, aloin, mitomycin C, actinomycin-D, melphalan). Suitable formulations for intravenous administration were determined before the average of median lethal dose (LD₅₀) and median survival dose (SD₅₀) in the CAM were measured and calculated for these drugs. The resultant ideal LD₅₀ values were correlated to those reported in the literature using Pearson’s correlation test for both intravenous and intraperitoneal routes of injection in rodents. Our results showed moderate correlations (r²=0.42 − 0.68, P<0.005–0.05) between the ideal LD₅₀ values obtained using the CAM model with LD₅₀ values from mice and rats models for both intravenous and intraperitoneal administrations, suggesting that the chick embryo may be a suitable alternative model for acute drug toxicity screening before embarking on full toxicological investigations in rodents in development of anticancer drugs.

Survey of ocular irritation predictive capacity using Chorioallantoic Membrane Vascular Assay (CAMVA) and Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability (BCOP) test historical data for 319 personal care products over fourteen years

The Chorioallantoic Membrane Vascular Assay (CAMVA) and Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability (BCOP) test are widely used to predict ocular irritation potential for consumer-use products. These in vitro assays do not require live animals, produce reliable predictive data for defined applicability domains compared to the Draize rabbit eye test, and are rapid and inexpensive. Data from 304 CAMVA and/or BCOP studies (319 formulations) were surveyed to determine the feasibility of predicting ocular irritation potential for various formulations. Hair shampoos, skin cleansers, and ethanol-based hair styling sprays were repeatedly predicted to be ocular irritants (accuracy rate=0.90-1.00), with skin cleanser and hair shampoo irritation largely dependent on surfactant species and concentration. Conversely, skin lotions/moisturizers and hair styling gels/lotions were repeatedly predicted to be non-irritants (accuracy rate=0.92 and 0.82, respectively). For hair shampoos, ethanol-based hair stylers, skin cleansers, and skin lotions/moisturizers, future ocular irritation testing (i.e., CAMVA/BCOP) can be nearly eliminated if new formulations are systematically compared to those previously tested using a defined decision tree. For other tested product categories, new formulations should continue to be evaluated in CAMVA/BCOP for ocular irritation potential because either the historical data exhibit significant variability (hair conditioners and mousses) or the historical sample size is too small to permit definitive conclusions (deodorants, make-up removers, massage oils, facial masks, body sprays, and other hair styling products). All decision tree conclusions should be made within a conservative weight-of-evidence context, considering the reported limitations of the BCOP test for alcohols, ketones, and solids.

Corneal protection with high-molecular-weight hyaluronan against in vitro and in vivo sodium lauryl sulfate-induced toxic effects

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to investigate high-molecular-weight hyaluronan (HA-HMW) corneal protection against sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)-induced toxic effects with in vitro and in vivo experimental approaches.

METHODS

In vitro experiments consisted of a human corneal epithelial cell line incubated with HA-HMW, rinsed, and incubated with SLS. Cell viability, oxidative stress, chromatin condensation, caspase-3, -8, -9, and P2X7 cell death receptor activation, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8 production were investigated. In vivo experiments consisted of 36 New Zealand white rabbits treated for 3 days, 3 times per day, with HA-HMW or phosphate-buffered salt solution. At day 4, eyes were treated with SLS. Clinical observation and in vivo confocal microscopy using the Rostock Cornea Module of the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph-II were performed to evaluate and to compare SLS-induced toxicity between eyes treated with HA-HMW and eyes treated with phosphate-buffered salt solution.

RESULTS

In vitro data indicate that exposure of human corneal epithelial cells to HA-HMW significantly decreased SLS-induced oxidative stress, apoptosis, and inflammation cytokine production. In vivo data indicate that SLS cornea injuries, characterized by damaged corneal epithelium, damaged anterior stroma, and inflammatory infiltrations, were attenuated with HA-HMW treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

A good correlation was seen between in vitro and in vivo findings showing that HA-HMW decreases SLS-induced toxic effects and protects cornea.