Project
Toxicological characterization of novel food and feed
The assessment of the safety of new generations of complex foods and feeds (including genetically modified crops) is carried out using 28-day and 90-day feed/toxicity trials. There is a great deal of discussion about the suitability and sensitivity of animal trials used to assess the safety of these complex products.
Goal
This project has three long-term objectives:
1) The toxicological characterisation of existing or new complex products and suspect preparations using a battery of in vitro assays for specific toxicity.
2) The use of omics techniques (gene expression and metabolite profiles) to analyse existing or new foods to detect toxic properties.
3) The implementation of these new methods/approaches to make a contribution to the refinement, reduction and, where relevant, replacement of existing animal trials for feed and toxicity tests.
We intend to actively communicate the opportunities this new approach offers for the risk assessment of complex mixtures.
Method
The following specific objectives will be addressed in 2014:
1) Review the suitability and strength of in vitro effect and bioactivation tests in combination with transcriptomics techniques for the broad screening of the potential hazards posed by complex products. This review will be carried out using herb mixtures (including mixtures based on Aristolochia and tansy ragwort) and new crops (potato lines) as cases.
2) Use omics techniques to prepare gene expression and metabolite profiles of existing and new complex foods using for future use in risk assessments.
Project result
The knowledge and expertise acquired during this project will be used to submit recommendations for the policy to be adopted in response to incidents and crises.
This project will provide an insight into the practicability of in vitro methods and omics techniques for the assessment of the safety of complex new foods and animal feeds, including products containing ingredients originating from GMO crops. The results will serve purposes including the provision of input for discussions within national and international authorities and organisations, in particular discussions on the predictive value of animal trials for the assessment of food safety and the adoption of in vitro approaches (based on omics) as an alternative.
Publications
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Safety assessment of plant varieties using transcriptomics profiling and a one-class classifier
Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology (2014), Volume: 70, Issue: 1 - ISSN 0273-2300 - p. 297-303. -
Application of "omics" to immunotoxicology: from mechanisms of action to alternative methods
In: Abstracts of the 49th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology Congress - p. S31-S31. -
2-Isopropylthioxantone (ITX) induces endocrine disrupting effects and increases liver weight during puberty in male Wistar rats.
In: 52nd Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, San Antonio, Texas, USA, 10 - 14 March, 2013 - Reston: Society of Toxicology - p. 413-413. -
Comparison of the effects of deoxynivalenol and tributylin oxide to that model compounds inducing endoplasmic reticulum stress, ribotoxic stress and T cell activation
In: 52nd Annual Meeting and ToxExpo, San Antonio, Texas, 10 - 14 March, 2013 - Reston: Society of Toxicology - p. 445-445. -
A foresight study on emerging technologies: State of the art of omics technologies and potential applications. REPORT 1: Review on the state of art of omics technologies in risk assessment related to food and feed safety
Parma (I): EFSA (supporting publications EN-495) -
In vitro pituitary and thyroid cell proliferation assays and their relevance as alternatives to animal testing
In: Book of Abstracts of the 49th Congress of the European Societies of Toxicology (EUROTOX) - p. S151-S151. -
Toxicogenomics-based in vitro alternatives for estrogenicity testing
Wageningen University. Promotor(en): Ivonne Rietjens, co-promotor(en): Toine Bovee, Jac Aarts - ISBN: 9789461735812 -
Metabolic profiling of steroidogenesis in the human H295R adrenocortaical cell line for detection of endocrine disruptors
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Comparing the immunosuppressive effects of cyclosporin A on mouse splenocytes in vivo with mouse and human T-cells in vitro by transcriptome profiling
In: 51st Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology and ToxExpo, March 11-15, 2012, San Fransisco, California - Oxford University Press - p. 352-352. -
Effect of oxygen on liver slices viability
In: 51st Annual Meeting of the Society of Toxicology and ToxExpo, March 11-15, 2012, San Fransisco, California - Oxford University Press - p. 394-395.