| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/M506850/1 |
| Title: |
Capillary Bed Bioreactor: Improved Estimation Of Dermal Bioavailability |
| Principal Investigator: |
Ellis, Professor MJ |
| Other Investigators: |
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| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
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| Project Partners: |
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| Department: |
Chemical Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Bath |
| Scheme: |
Technology Programme |
| Starts: |
01 October 2014 |
Ends: |
30 June 2016 |
Value (£): |
105,790
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Bioreactors |
Tissue engineering |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Healthcare |
Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology |
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| Related Grants: |
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| Panel History: |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
Historically, animal testing has been used to support risk assessment for a variety of toxicological endpoints related to
cosmetic ingredients, including the local lymph node assay (LLNA) to assess the sensitization potential and potency of a
chemical. However, in recent years, there has been a continuous drive to reduce the level of animal testing undertaken to
support risk assessments for new cosmetic products, and a move towards a mechanistic understanding of human
exposure. Consequently, the development of mechanistic/biologically relevant in vitro, in chemico or in silico models for
predicting the sensitising potential and/or potency of new chemicals is necessary to generate data leading to increased
confidence in predictions of in vivo scenarios. The chemical and biological events driving the induction of human skin
sensitisation are now well understood and companies such as Unilever use this information in non-animal models to test
the safety of new compounds. Discs of ex vivo skin (from cosmetic surgery procedures) are mounted in diffusion cells and
the permeation of a test item through the skin is monitored over time. While this has proved to be an adequate model, it
does not truly represent living skin. At present, little is known regarding chemical clearance via dermal capillaries, and this
is a gap in our mechanistic understanding of the bioavailability of a topically applied chemical in the elicitation of skin
sensitisation. The proposed capillary bed bioreactor (CBB) better replicates the in vivo environment of the skin and its
blood supply by providing a bed of pseudovascularisation in the form of hollow fibre membranes. Therefore it should more
accurately predict permeation of chemicals through the skin, and provide data that more closely resembles that of the in
vivo scenario. The new bioreactor will be more physiologically accurate than the current model and can therefore
potentially refine inputs to our mechanistic models for skin sensitisation, to give us more accurate predictions of adverse
outcomes. This in turn will give greater confidence in our ability to risk assess new ingredients in the future without the
requirement for animal testing.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.bath.ac.uk |