The within- and between-laboratories reproducibility and predictive capacity of Amino acid Derivative Reactivity Assay using 4 mM test chemical solution: Results of ring study implemented at five participating laboratories.

Amino acid derivative reactivity assay (ADRA) for skin sensitization was adopted as an alternative method in the 2019 OECD Guideline for the Testing of Chemicals (OECD TG 442C). The molar ratio of the nucleophilic reagent to the test chemicals in the reaction solution was set to 1:50. Imamura et al. reported that changing this molar ratio from 1:50 to 1:200 reduced in false negatives and improved prediction accuracy. Hence, a ring study using ADRA with 4 mM of a test chemical solution (ADRA, 4 mM) was conducted at five different laboratories to verify within- and between-laboratory reproducibilities (WLR and BLR, respectively). In this study, we investigated the WLR and BLR using 14 test chemicals grouped into three classes: (1) eight proficiency substances, (2) four test chemicals that showed false negatives in the ADRA with 1 mM test chemical solution (ADRA, 1 mM), but correctly positive in ADRA (4 mM), and (3) current positive control (phenylacetaldehyde) and a new additional positive control (squaric acid diethyl ester). The results showed 100% reproducibility and 100% accuracy for skin sensitization. Hence, it is clear that the ADRA (4 mM) is an excellent test method in contrast to the currently used ADRA (1 mM). We plan to resubmit the ADRA (4 mM) test method to the OECD Test Guideline Group in the near future so that OECD TG 442C could be revised for the convenience and benefit of many ADRA users.

The within- and between-laboratory reproducibility and predictive capacity of the in chemico amino acid derivative reactivity assay: Results of validation study implemented in four participating laboratories.

The amino acid derivative reactivity assay (ADRA) is an in chemico alternative method that focuses on protein binding as the molecular initiating event for skin sensitization. It is a simple and versatile method that has successfully solved some of the problems of the direct peptide reactivity assay (DPRA). The transferability and within- and between-laboratory reproducibility of ADRA were evaluated and confirmed as part of a validation study conducted at four participating laboratories. The transfer of ADRA technology from the lead laboratory to the four participating laboratories was completed successfully during a two-step training program, after which the skin sensitization potentials of 40 coded chemicals were predicted based on the results of ADRA testing. Within-laboratories reproducibility was 100% (10 of 10), 100% (10 of 10), 100% (7 of 7) and 90% (9 of 10), or an average of 97.3% (36 of 37); between-laboratory reproducibility as calculated on the results of three laboratories at the time was 91.9%. The overall predictive capacity comprised an accuracy of 86.9%, sensitivity of 81.5% and specificity of 98.1%. These results satisfied the targets set by the validation management team for demonstrating transferability, within- and between-laboratory reproducibility, and predictive capacity as well as gave a clear indication that ADRA is easily transferable and sufficiently robust to be used in place of DPRA.