Evaluation of an alternative mucosal irritation test using slugs

Area of Science:

• In vitro toxicology
• Alternative testing methods
• Dermatology

Background:

• Current methods for assessing mucosal irritation often rely on animal models, raising ethical concerns and costs.
• Developing reliable in vitro alternatives is crucial for efficient and ethical chemical safety assessment.
• The Draize test, while established, has limitations in predicting human responses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the slug Arion lusitanicus as a model for an alternative mucosal irritation test.
• To assess the correlation between slug responses and in vivo Draize scores for eye irritation (MMAS).
• To develop prediction models for classifying chemical irritation potential based on slug test data.

Main Methods:

• Exposure of slug (Arion lusitanicus) mucosal tissue to 28 reference substances.
• Measurement of mucus production, body weight reduction, and protein release as endpoints.
• Comparison of slug test data with existing in vivo MMAS scores.

Main Results:

• Mucus production and body weight reduction in slugs showed significant correlation with MMAS scores (r=0.73).
• Mucus production effectively classified chemicals into EU categories (NI, R36, R41).
• Developed prediction models achieved high accuracy for alcohols (91% correct classification) and non-alcohols (65% concordance).

Conclusions:

• The slug mucosal irritation test is a reliable and promising alternative to animal testing for evaluating drug irritation potential.
• This method offers a viable approach for assessing irritation on human mucosal tissues.
• The developed prediction models enhance the accuracy of classifying chemical irritancy.