In chemico sequential testing strategy for assessing the photoallegic potential

Several non-animal testing methods to assess photoallergic potential have been developed so far, while none of them have yet to be validated and regulatory accepted. Currently, some photoreactivity assays such as UV-VIS spectral analysis and ROS assay are generally used for initial photosafety assessments because of their high sensitivity. However, they have a low specificity, generating a high percentage of false positive results, and the development of a follow-up assessment method is desired. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an in chemico photoallergy testing method, photo-direct peptide reactivity assay (photo-DPRA). Based on photosafety information, 34 photoallergens and 16 non-photoallergens were selected and subjected to UV-VIS spectral analysis, ROS/micellar ROS assays, photo-DPRA, sequential testing strategy (STS) consisting of all three methods, and 3T3 neutral red uptake phototoxicity testing (3T3 NRU PT). Combination of the methods addressing the key events of photoallergy exhibited high prediction performance. Our results showed the proposed strategy would be useful to predict the photoallergic potential of chemicals as the follow-up assessment for false positive chemicals by UV/VIS spectral analysis and ROS assay.