Ocular Irritection Assays

The Irritection Assay System is a standardized, quantitative in vitro test method that can be employed to detect, rank, and predict the ocular and/or dermal irritation potential of cosmetics, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, and chemical raw materials. This advanced technology enhances and replaces the Company's earlier Eytex and Skintex products.

The corneal irritancy of test materials is known to be related to their propensity to promote denaturation and disruption of corneal proteins. The Ocular Irritection Assay System is an in vitro test method that mimics these biochemical phenomena. This test consists of two essential components:

• A membrane disc that permits controlled delivery of the test material to a reagent solution and;
  
• A proprietary reagent solution that is composed of proteins, glycoproteins, lipids and low molecular weight components that self-associate to form a complex macromolecular matrix.

Controlled mixing of the test material and the reagent solution during the assay incubation period promotes protein denaturation and disaggregation of the macromolecular matrix.

The changes in protein structure that are induced by the test material may be readily quantitated by measuring the resulting changes in turbidity (OD₄₀₅) of the reagent solution.

Comparison of these optical density measurements to those produced by standard chemical irritants permits calculation of an "irritancy score" that has been shown to be directly related to the potential corneal irritancy of the test material.

For more information on how IRRITECTION can benefit your company, contact InVitro International at 1-800-2-INVITRO (800-246-8487).

InVitro International, 16632 Millikan Ave., Irvine, CA 92606. Tel: 949-851-8356; Fax: 949-851-0563.