Reduction of use of animals in regulatory genotoxicity testing: Identification and implementation opportunities-Report from an ECVAM workshop.

In vivo genetic toxicology tests measure direct DNA damage or the formation of gene or chromosomal mutations, and are used to predict the mutagenic and carcinogenic potential of compounds for regulatory purposes and/or to follow-up positive results from in vitro testing. These tests are widely used and consume large numbers of animals, with a foreseeable marked increase as a result of the EU chemicals legislation (REACH), which may require follow-up of any positive outcome in the in vitro standard battery with appropriate in vivo tests, regardless of the tonnage level of the chemical. A 2-day workshop with genotoxicity experts from academia, regulatory agencies and industry was hosted by the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) in Ranco, Italy from 24 to 25 June 2008.

A software package for the microcomputer control and analysis of research on schedule-induced polydipsia.

This manuscript describes a software package called POLY which offers a range of routines designed to allow the user to set up, run and analyze data for research on schedule-induced polydipsia. The three major routines described are SETUP, RUN and ANALYSIS. The routines are flexible and give the user efficient control over the parameters of the research and the collection and analysis of the data.

The evaluation of a new synthetic pyrethroid pesticide (permethrin) for neurotoxicity.

A new synthetic pyrethroid, permethrin, has recently been granted a registration by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Permethrin and a large number of other chemicals of its type are expected to receive widespread use in the environment in the near future. Since the mechanism by which these compounds exert their toxic effect in insects (and at higher doses in mammals) is by disruption of the normal function of nervous tissue, a detailed morphologic evaluation of the nervous system was performed on rats from two long-term feeding studies conducted on permethrin.