{"title":"Thanks to Reviewers.","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/02611929251317684","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02611929251317684","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55577,"journal":{"name":"Atla-Alternatives To Laboratory Animals","volume":" ","pages":"2611929251317684"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143076588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Chemicals 2.0 and Why We Need to Bypass the Gold Standard in Regulatory Toxicology.","authors":"Andrew P Worth, Elisabet Berggren, Pilar Prieto","doi":"10.1177/02611929241296328","DOIUrl":"10.1177/02611929241296328","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of adverse effect data from animals as the gold standard in regulatory toxicology has a long tradition dating back to the 1960s. It has also been increasingly criticised, based on both scientific and animal welfare concerns, and yet, animal studies remain the gold standard in most areas of toxicology to this very day. In the 1980s, when the first generation of non-animal methods were evaluated as alternatives to animal testing, it was logical to compare the 'new' data obtained with historical animal data. This worked reasonably well for simple endpoints, such as skin and eye irritation, but became problematic for the more complex systemic endpoints, since in these cases, the <i>in vivo</i> effects are not directly comparable to those observed in <i>in vitro</i> systems. While the need to redefine the gold standard is not new, there is still no consensus on how to do so. We propose a consistent principle that avoids the need for animal reference data, while also ensuring an equivalent or better level of protection. We argue that the gold standard can be redefined, or rather bypassed, by focusing on risk management outcomes rather than the outputs of animal methods. This allows us to more efficiently protect human health and the environment, ensuring the safe use of chemicals while also identifying less hazardous chemicals for use as substitutes. We describe how this might work out for two main contexts of use: classification and labelling, and risk assessment. This has implications for the implementation of the EU Commission Roadmap toward the phasing out of animal testing in chemical safety assessments.</p>","PeriodicalId":55577,"journal":{"name":"Atla-Alternatives To Laboratory Animals","volume":" ","pages":"21-25"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142549155","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Megan R LaFollette, Szczepan W Baran, J Lowry Curley, Anne M Dickinson, Trivia Frazier, Nina Hobi, Ming-I Huang, Victoria Hutter, Benoît G C Maisonneuve, Graham A Marsh, Rhamiya Mahendran, Iris Müller, Xiaohua Qian, Dharaminder Singh, William R Thelin, Jelena Vukasinovic, Pelin L Candarlioglu, Clive S Roper
{"title":"The Use of MPS in Three Rs and Regulatory Applications: Perspectives From Developers on Stakeholder Responsibilities.","authors":"Megan R LaFollette, Szczepan W Baran, J Lowry Curley, Anne M Dickinson, Trivia Frazier, Nina Hobi, Ming-I Huang, Victoria Hutter, Benoît G C Maisonneuve, Graham A Marsh, Rhamiya Mahendran, Iris Müller, Xiaohua Qian, Dharaminder Singh, William R Thelin, Jelena Vukasinovic, Pelin L Candarlioglu, Clive S Roper","doi":"10.1177/02611929241310566","DOIUrl":"10.1177/02611929241310566","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Increasing the use of microphysiological systems (MPS) in Three Rs and regulatory applications is a nuanced but important goal, which would also help increase their scientific impact. There are three distinct and important stakeholder groups that each play a unique role in expediting the use of MPS for regulatory purpose - namely, commercial MPS developers, end-users and regulators. Additionally, non-profit organisations, such as the 3Rs Collaborative (3RsC), can help coordinate these efforts. This paper introduces the MPS Initiative, as organised by the 3RsC, and clarifies the potential for MPS to benefit all Three Rs. Key differences in the use of MPS-derived data for regulatory evidence of efficacy versus safety, and for various other contexts of use, are discussed. Finally, the results are presented from a survey of primarily commercial MPS developers, that collected their views on the realistic responsibilities of each stakeholder group. The results also highlight their key perspectives on the use of MPS, in the context of Three Rs and regulatory applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":55577,"journal":{"name":"Atla-Alternatives To Laboratory Animals","volume":"53 1","pages":"26-41"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142959350","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Spotlight on Three Rs Progress.","authors":"","doi":"10.1177/02611929241308666","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02611929241308666","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":55577,"journal":{"name":"Atla-Alternatives To Laboratory Animals","volume":"53 1","pages":"5-7"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142959323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michael G Diemar, Cyrille A M Krul, Marc Teunis, Francois Busquet, Helena Kandarova, Julia D Zajac, Mathieu Vinken, Erwin L Roggen
{"title":"Report of the First ONTOX Hackathon: Hack to Save Lives and Avoid Animal Suffering. The Use of Artificial Intelligence in Toxicology - A Potential Driver for Reducing/Replacing Laboratory Animals in the Future.","authors":"Michael G Diemar, Cyrille A M Krul, Marc Teunis, Francois Busquet, Helena Kandarova, Julia D Zajac, Mathieu Vinken, Erwin L Roggen","doi":"10.1177/02611929241305112","DOIUrl":"10.1177/02611929241305112","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The first ONTOX Hackathon of the EU Horizon 2020-funded ONTOX project was held on 21-23 April 2024 in Utrecht, The Netherlands (https://ontox-project.eu/hackathon/). This participatory event aimed to collectively advance innovation for human safety through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and hence significantly reduce reliance on animal-based testing. Expert scientists, industry leaders, young investigators, members of animal welfare organisations and academics alike, joined the hackathon. Eight teams were stimulated to find innovative solutions for challenging themes, that were selected based on previous discussions between stakeholders, namely: How to drive the use of AI in chemical risk assessment?; To predict or protect?; How can we secure human health and environmental protection at the same time?; and How can we facilitate the transition from animal tests to full implementation of human-relevant methods? The hackathon ended with a pitching contest, where the teams presented their solutions to a jury. The most promising solutions will be presented to regulatory authorities, industry, academia and non-governmental organisations at the next ONTOX Stakeholder Network meeting and taken up by the ONTOX project in order to tackle the above-mentioned challenges further. This report comprises two parts: The first part highlights some of the lessons learnt during the planning and execution of the hackathon; the second part presents the outcome of the ONTOX Hackathon, which resulted in several innovative and promising solutions based on New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), and outlines ONTOX's intended way forward.</p>","PeriodicalId":55577,"journal":{"name":"Atla-Alternatives To Laboratory Animals","volume":" ","pages":"42-61"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142856734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Craig McHardy, Nathaniel J Clark, Robert Clough, Richard D Handy
{"title":"The Use of an <i>In Chemico</i> Digestibility Assay to Reduce the <i>In Vivo</i> Fish Bioaccumulation Testing of Nanomaterials.","authors":"Craig McHardy, Nathaniel J Clark, Robert Clough, Richard D Handy","doi":"10.1177/02611929241304972","DOIUrl":"10.1177/02611929241304972","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Currently for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), there are no alternatives to bioaccumulation testing in fish as prescribed by OECD TG 305. New approaches are being sought, in order to reduce the numbers of animals used and address the ethical concerns associated with the use of vertebrates in such testing. This study aimed to demonstrate the value of an alternative method - the <i>in chemico</i> digestibility assay - as a tool to assess the bioaccumulation potential of ENMs. Titanium dioxide ENMs, or their equivalent bulk form, were incorporated onto a commercial fish diet and the fish digestion process was simulated <i>in vitro</i> at pH 2 (simulated stomach phase) and pH 7.8 (simulated intestinal phase). Only the 1000 mg/kg dry weight feed treatment showed measurable Ti release in the stomach phase, with the results being similar for the TiO<sub>2</sub> ENM and the bulk form. More Ti from TiO<sub>2</sub> was released from the feed during the intestinal phase of digestion compared to the stomach phase, but there were no statistically significant differences between either the ENM or bulk form. There was higher incidental Ti release from untreated control feed in the intestinal phase compared to the stomach phase. On a percentage basis, the stomach generally showed a statistically significant digestibility of around 3% of the total Ti in the feed, compared to around 7% in the intestine. The <i>in chemico</i> digestibility assay shows potential for use in the determination of the bioaccessible fraction of ENMs, and could be a useful screening tool to identify ENMs of concern for bioaccumulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":55577,"journal":{"name":"Atla-Alternatives To Laboratory Animals","volume":" ","pages":"11-20"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142815188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}