Title:New Approach Methodologies in Immunotoxicology: Challenges and
Opportunities
Volume: 23
Issue: 14
Author(s): Ambra Maddalon, Martina Iulini, Gloria Melzi, Emanuela Corsini*Valentina Galbiati
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences, Laboratory of Toxicology, Università degli Studi di Milano,
Milan, Italy
Keywords:
Immunotoxicity, new approach methodologies (NAMs), organism, methodologies, AOP, novel chemicals.
Abstract:
To maintain the integrity of an organism, a well-functioning immune system is essential.
Immunity is dynamic, with constant surveillance needed to determine whether to initiate an immune
response or to not respond. Both inappropriate immunostimulation and decreased immune
response can be harmful to the host. A reduced immune response can lead to high susceptibility to
cancer or infections, whereas an increased immune response can be related to autoimmunity or
hypersensitivity reactions. Animal testing has been the gold standard for hazard assessment in immunotoxicity
but a lot of efforts are ongoing to develop non-animal-based test systems, and important
successes have been achieved. The term “new approach methodologies” (NAMs) refer to
the approaches which are not based on animal models. They are applied in hazard and risk assessment
of chemicals and include approaches such as defined approaches for data interpretation and
integrated approaches to testing and assessment.
This review aims to summarize the available NAMs for immunotoxicity assessment, taking into
consideration both inappropriate immunostimulation and immunosuppression, including implication
for cancer development.