Novel statistical approach for evaluating flow cytometric in vitro micronucleus data.

Statistical methods currently recommended for analysis of in vitro micronucleus data are based on small sample sizes. The tests are designed to evaluate linear trends and differences between treated and control samples. When using flow cytometric analysis, >5 times the number of cells are easily evaluated, and the variance estimates from these large samples are small. Application of these recommended tests to large samples resulted in statistically significant outcomes which were not considered to be biologically meaningful. Alternative statistical methods for testing trends and differences among treatments that were either widely used, or sample-size independent, were investigated. Using data from 95 experiments (from 2011-2013) where 19% of the experiments were considered positive, results for the various statistical methods were compared. When using either the recommended or alternate methods, 42-68% of the experiments resulted in statistically significant results (p < 0.05). A new concept was then tested using the same data sets: the "z' factor", designed to identify 'hits' during high throughput screening. Using this simple-to-compute statistic the number of significant calls was reduced to 27%. Then, when combined with a biological criterion based on historical vehicle control data, there was restoration of the original positive frequency (19%). Given the larger sample sizes evaluated using flow cytometry, we have demonstrated that traditional statistical tests may be overly sensitive to small changes in micronucleus induction, and that a simple-to-compute index of separation (z') may be a better tool for analysis, provided that the response is first determined to be biologically meaningful. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 57:589-604, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The role of genetic toxicology in drug discovery and optimization.

Genetic toxicology data is used as a surrogate for long-term carcinogenicity data during early drug development. The aim of genotoxicity testing is to identify potentially hazardous drug candidates. Results from genetic toxicology tests in combination with acute and subchronic animal data are used as the basis to approve clinical trials of drug candidates. With few exceptions, mutagenic compounds are dropped from development and clastogenic compounds result in unfavorable labeling, require disclosure in clinical trial consent forms, and can impact the marketability of a new drug. Therefore, genetic toxicology testing in drug discovery and optimization serves to quickly identify mutagens and remove them from development. Additionally, clastogenicity can delay drug development by requiring additional testing to determine in vivo relevance of in vitro clastogenic responses. Clastogenicity screening is conducted so any additional testing can be planned and perhaps integrated into other toxicity studies to expedite progression of drugs into the clinic. Commercially available genotoxicity and carcinogenicity predictive software systems used for decision support by ICSAS, FDA/CDER is described along with the strengths and weakness of each system. The FDA has concentrated on using a consensus approach to maximize certainty for positive predictions at the expense of sensitivity. The consensus approach consists of requiring 2 complementary software packages, such as MC4PC and MDL QSAR models, to agree that a compound has a genotoxic or carcinogenic liability. Mutagenicity and clastogenicity screening tests are described along with advantages and disadvantages of each test. Several testing strategies are presented for consideration.

Detection of chemical mutagens using Muta Mouse: a transgenic mouse model.

A transgenic mouse strain with a high copy number of rescuable lacZ sequences was evaluated for its effectiveness in detecting lacZ- mutations in selected tissues. Procarbazine, cyclophosphamide, ethylnitrosourea, 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), acrylamide and chlorambucil were tested following either single or repeated dosing regimens. Bone marrow, liver, skin and testis tissues were selected to assess as target sites for mutation. Bone marrow, liver and testis tissues were examined for mutation following exposures to ethylnitrosourea and chlorambucil. Increased mutant frequencies were found for both chemicals in all three tissues. Bone marrow tissue was examined for mutation following procarbazine, cyclophosphamide and acrylamide exposures, and skin was examined for mutation following dermal application of DMBA. Mutation induction was observed in all cases. The results obtained from this investigation demonstrate the applicability of this transgenic mouse as an effective model to detect and analyze gene mutation in selected organs including germinal tissues. Studies of organotrophic chemical mutagens and carcinogens are possible with this model as are studies of the susceptibility of germinal tissues to mutagen exposures.