Interlaboratory assessment of the bovine corneal opacity and permeability (BCOP) assay.

A multinational interlaboratory study to investigate the bovine corneal opacity and permeability (BCOP) assay is presented. The aim of this work was to determine the capability and possible limitations of this method to predict ocular irritancy of a large set of chemicals. The assays were carried out in 12 European laboratories with different types of activity.

Evaluation of the bovine corneal opacity-permeability assay as an in vitro alternative to the Draize eye irritation test.

The bovine corneal opacity-permeability assay (BCO-P) was evaluated as an in vitro alternative test model for the Draize eye irritancy test. Fifty pharmaceutical and commercially available compounds were tested in the BCO-P assay. The compounds were selected on the basis of their in vivo irritancy potential as determined in previous Draize tests.

Sampling times in micronucleus testing.

A series of micronucleus inducers were evaluated in the mouse bone marrow micronucleus test to determine if a 72-h sampling time enhances the sensitivity for detecting genotoxic agents. Male and female Swiss albino mice were dosed once with 7,12- dimethylbenz[a]anthracene, 6-mercaptopurine, benzo[a]pyrene, benzene, cyclophosphamide, 2-acetylaminofluorene, tubulazole, or mitomycin C. According to the EEC and OECD guidelines, the mice were killed at 24, 48 and 72 h after dosing.

Chromosomal aberrations in human lymphocytes induced in vitro by very low doses of X-rays.

This paper presents results of a collaborative experiment between six laboratories which examined the yields of unstable chromosomal aberrations in human lymphocytes induced in vitro by X-rays over the dose range 0-300 mGy. The work included data points of nominal doses of 0, 3, 5, 6, 10, 20, 30, 50 and 300 mGy. Cells from 24 donors were examined and a total of about 300,000 metaphases were scored.

[In vitro study of the influence of donor age, nature of mitogen and exposure to X-rays on the proliferation rate of human lymphocytes].

Proliferation of lymphocytes from donors belonging to 4 age groups (2, 25, 45 and 80 years) and exposed, in vitro, to 0 or 2 Gy of X-rays was studied in cultures stimulated by 3 different mitogens. Our results show that these 3 factors (age, irradiation and mitogen) play a role in the frequencies of cells observed in first, second, third or subsequent cell division in 48 or 72 h cultures.