Developmental Immunotoxicity Testing: A Review

Toxicology. 2003;185(3):193-203

Abstract: There are currently no validated or widely accepted methods for evaluating the effects of a chemical on the developing immune system. Nonetheless because of concerns over children's health issues, specifically the possibility that the very young are uniquely susceptible to chemical perturbation, governmental regulators are beginning to ask for information about potential effects on the developing immune system. This paper will address the following three goals. First, an update of the regulatory pressures for developmental immunotoxicology will be presented from a U.S. perspective. Second, an update on the state of the science of developmental immunotoxicology will be presented with an emphasis on results from a recent collaboration between Dow, DuPont and Cornell University. Finally, the principle conclusions from a recent ILSI/HESI workshop will be summarized. At this workshop, it was generally acknowledged that there are a variety of techniques available for assessing immunosuppression in adult animal models. However, it was emphasized that there is uncertainty about how to apply these approaches to a developing animal, especially if the goal is to have some standard procedure(s) that could be applied for regulatory risk assessment. Ultimately, the primary conclusion from this workshop was that developmental immunotoxicology, as a science, is still in its infancy and is not ready to be applied in a risk assessment strategy.

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