The Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing is an academic center affiliated with the Division of Toxicological Sciences in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health

Research Grants 1986-1987

Development of an In Vitro System for Testing Irritants of Vaginal Mucous Membrane

Norman H. Dubin, PhD
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

Dubin has already used CAAT funding to demonstrate that, when exposed to a mild irritant in vitro, vaginal tissue releases hormones involved in inflammation. He will study the mechanism of this response and determine whether the amount of hormone released can be used to measure a chemical's toxicity. Dubin's assay may prove useful not only for testing potential vaginal irritants, but also irritants of other mucous membranes, such as those around the eye and in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts.