Author: Mitchell Gaydash

08 Nov Toxicity and Inflammatory Response to Common Magic Mouthwashes in a 3D Oral Reconstructed Tissue Model

Magic Mouthwash is a general term describing oral rinses prescribed by a doctor for the treatment of pain, inflammation, or infection, commonly as a result of chemotherapy and radiation induced oral sores (oral mucositis). There is no set combination of ingredients for the preparation of a magic mouthwash, rather they are formulated for the individual needs of each patient, selecting from an array of various active ingredients. Although the ingredients most commonly used to formulate Magic Mouthwashes are considered safe as prescribed, the final formulations lack toxicity and inflammatory response data.

08 Nov Safety Assessment of Monographed OTC Cold/Cough Medicine Using an In Vitro Testing Platform Based on Human Reconstructed Oral Tissues

Over-the-counter (OTC) products are available to alleviate concurrent symptoms of colds and flu. They are primarily based on a combination of decongestants, antitussive and alpha adrenergic agonists, which are well-established pharmaceutical agents covered by U.S. monographs. Many of the active components of the OTC cough/cold drugs are bitter and must be masked using flavoring agents. Bayer internally employed a stringent safety testing program for OTC cough/cold medicine line extensions that require the products to be held in the mouth for a short period using an innovative testing platform based on reconstructed oral tissues.

10 Oct Ensuring the quality of a test system using the principles of Good In Vitro Method Practices (GIVIMP): A case study of cryopreserved human precision-cut lung slices

Human precision-cut lung slices (hPCLS) are a highly relevant 3-dimensional model of the lung. They offer native architecture and cells of the lung tissue including respiratory parenchyma, small airways, and immune competent cells involved in inflammatory and sensitization processes. The scarcity of human lung tissue available for research and the inability to conduct larger scale testing has limited the use of hPCLS as a test system for routine, high-throughput testing. To overcome this barrier, IIVS has refined the methodology behind the cryopreservation, storage, thaw and post-thaw maintenance of human lung slices. As primary tissues have varied quality and responsiveness, a standardized performance characterization (PC) is conducted on all donor batches.

10 Oct Key Recommendations from GIVIMP for Test System Suppliers

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidance document on Good In Vitro Method Practices (GIVIMP) details a set of quality standards to improve both the quality of and confidence in newly developed, and routinely executed in vitro methods. An important part of (and a source of potential high variability in) any method is the test system. Microphysiological Systems (MPS), including organ-on-a-chip platforms have been used in novel methods for many years. Despite their potential benefits, there are several quality concerns associated with MPS. Two of these concerns are reproducibility and well defined and understood biological relevance, both of which are covered in the GIVIMP guidance.