• Universitat de València

Chronic toxicity tests are necessary for the evaluation of the long-term harmful effects of certain substances, such as drugs, chemicals or cosmetics. However, chronic toxicity is difficult to predict in in vitro tests, as it is difficult to maintain contact of test substances with in vitro cell systems for a prolonged period of time. Currently, different methods are used to carry out this type of study, such as the use of bioreactors, static culture systems, or cultures in rotation or perfusion. However, none of the methods can solve this problem in an efficient way, as they are costly and/or complex to use.

Researchers at the Universitat de València have developed new in vitro methods and test kit to study the chronic toxicity of treatment with substances on cell cultures. This method improves the predictive value of existing in vitro toxicity cellular tests by providing a cell culture model that extends the useful period of exposure to the test substance to a minimum of 72 hours. In addition to chronic toxicity studies of compounds of various nature, such as drugs, chemicals, cosmetics, environmental pollutants or nanomaterials, the invention also allows the determination of other biological effects, such as ligand binding, effects on the cell cycle or expression of reporter genes.

The main applications of the technology are as follows:

• In the pharmaceutical, chemical, food or environmental sector, for the study of toxicity and other effects of chronic treatment of different substances against cell cultures.

The main benefits of the invention are:

• Reduction of costs and time associated with in vivo testing, as the new method allows prediction of chronic toxicity effects, without the need to enter into this type of testing.
• Easier to use than other in vitro models, and less costly.
• Versatility of the method, allowing the study of toxicity and other effects, such as ligand binding, reporter gene expression and effects on the cell cycle.
• Variety in the type of substances under study: pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chemicals, environmental pollutants, nanoparticles and others.
• No ethical issues related to the use of living beings, characteristic of in vivo models.

• Patent granted