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GARD®skin has demonstrated broad applicability for a wide range of “difficult-to-test” substances that fall outside the applicability domains of the conventional in vitro assays in the OECD Test Guidelines. If your chemical has challenging properties, our experts are here to help.

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About “Difficult-to-test” samples

In the context of skin sensitization testing, certain groups of chemicals are considered challenging to test using conventional cell-based methods. Examples of commonly recognised challenging samples include:

  • Pre- and pro- haptens

    Pre- and pro-haptens need to be activated to become skin sensitizers. The metabolic activation process, however, is not always supported by in vitro tests.

  • Low water-soluble substances

    Hydrophobic test items are often difficult to test in an aqueous test system due to solubility issues.

  • Complex mixtures

    Botanical extracts, essential oils or UVCBs are typical examples of complex mixtures. Many of them have solubility issues in aqueous test systems.

Why GARD® works

GARD®skin has demonstrated broad applicability for various types of difficult-to-test samples. The scientific data is summerized in the OECD TG 442E.

1. Supporting metabolic activation

GARDskin utilizes a dendritic-like cell line, expressing several metabolizing enzymes required for activation of pre/-pro haptens (e.g. ALDH, CYP, NAT-1).

2. A broad selection of solvents

The solubility for hydrophobic substances is further increased using an extended panel of non-polar solvents compatible with the test system.

3. Highly sensitive

GARDskin is highly sensitive, able to detect a minimum amount of substances dissolved in the cell medium.