Highly accurate predictor of eye irritation utilizing potential parameters of a reconstructed human cornea epithelium model calculated based on Hansen solubility parameters.

Concerns regarding animal welfare have led to the need for alternatives to animal eye irritation tests. The reconstructed human cornea-like epithelium (RhCE) test is described in the OECD TG 492 as an alternative to animal eye irritation tests. However, the accuracy and labor investment of this method can be improved if the results can be predicted before the experiment. In this study, we evaluated whether Hansen solubility parameter (HSP) values can be used to predict the results of RhCE method using the LabCyte CORNEA-MODEL for 65 test substances. We found that HSP values can predict the RhCE method with high correlation (accuracy 84.6% (55/65), false-negative rate of 16.2% (7/43), and false-positive rate of 13.6% (3/22). These results indicate that HSP values can be used to predict the results RhCE method using LabCyte CORNEA-MODEL with high reproducibility, and thus are useful for evaluating the safety of substances.