Winter 2010

Recent Litron Appointments

Please join us in congratulating Litron's Director of Research, Dr. Stephen Dertinger, who has recently been elected as a Council Member to the Environmental Mutagen Society (EMS). As a long-time member, Steve is looking forward to contributing to the society at this pivotal time.

Congratulations Dr. Dertinger!

Demand for MicroFlow^® Training Grows

2009 brought a significant increase in on-site and in-house training requests. Litron scientists trained users in Asia, Europe and North America on the latest in vitro and in vivo technology for micronucleus analysis.

Currently, MicroFlow^® kits are exported to scientists in 22 countries around the world.

Integrating GeneTox Testing into General Tox Studies
Combine Pig-a gene mutation and micronucleus endpoints into 28-day studies.

Maximizing the value of each study is one of the primary goals of any testing program. Historically, obtaining genetic toxicology data from routine toxicology studies was not a practical option. Now flow cytometry has made that possible.

Pig-a mutation and In Vivo MicroFlow^® micronucleus testing can be integrated into existing repeat-dose protocols. This approach will provide a better context in which to relate genotoxicity results with concurrent general toxicity information. Additionally, by combining studies and eliminating the need for dedicated experiments, animal use can be significantly reduced.

With only a few drops of blood, chromosome damage and mutation endpoints may now be quickly, reliably and reproducibly acquired as part of existing repeat-dose studies.

Additional benefits of this flow cytometric micronucleus method (i.e., MicroFlow^®):

• No Observed Genotoxic Effect Levels can be determined if suitable dose groups are examined and a sufficient number of reticulocytes are evaluated per sample.
• Mode of action (aneugenic versus clastogenic) can be qualitatively determined if sufficient numbers of cells are interrogated.

Additional benefits of this flow cytometric Pig-a mutation method:

• Any strain of rodent can be used, unlike transgenic assays that require the use of non-standard and expensive rodents.
• It is easy to perform when compared to endogenous gene assays such as Hprt and TK+/-.

A poster describing integration of genetox into a 28-day study will be presented by Litron at the 2010 Society of Toxicology (SOT) Annual Meeting. To discuss this, or other work, please visit our scientists at SOT booth number 1147.