There has been an increased demand to eliminate animal experiments and to replace the experiments with alternative tests for assessing the safety of cosmetics. The SH test is an in vitro skin sensitization test that evaluates the protein binding abilities of a test substance. Skin sensitization must be evaluated by multiple test methods. The SH test uses the same cell line and measuring instruments as the human Cell-Line Activation Test (h-CLAT), which is one of the test methods used to evaluate different key events and is listed in the OECD test guidelines. There are cost advantages to usher the SH test into facilities that are already running the h-CLAT. The SH test is conducted only at a facility that has developed the SH test because studies on the between-facility reproducibility and validity have not been performed. Therefore, to verify the transferability of the SH test and the between-facilities reproducibility, we evaluated the reproducibility of the SH test results at three facilities, including the development facility. After an initial round of testing, the protocol was refined as follows to improve reproducibility among the three facilities: i) determine the optimum pH range, ii) change the maximum applicable concentration of water-soluble substances, and iii) define the appropriate dispersion conditions for evaluating hydrophobic substances. These refinements markedly enhanced the between-facility reproducibility (from 76.0% to 96.0%) for the 25 substances evaluated in this study. This study confirmed that the SH test is an effective skin sensitization test method with high technical transferability and between-facility reproducibility.
Keywords: Alternative test method to animal experiments; Between-laboratory reproducibility; Skin sensitization; Technical transferability; SH test.