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BackgroundKey characteristics (KCs), properties of agents or exposures that confer potential hazard, have been developed for carcinogens and other toxicant classes. KCs have been used in the systematic assessment of hazards and to identify assay and data gaps that limit screening and risk assessment. Many of the mechanisms through which pharmaceuticals and occupational or environmental agents modulate immune function are well recognized. Thus KCs could be identified for immunoactive substances and applied to improve hazard assessment of immunodulatory agents.ObjectivesThe goal was to generate a consensus-based synthesis of scientific evidence describing the KCs of agents known to cause immunotoxicity and potential applications, such as assays to measure the KCs.MethodsA committee of 18 experts with diverse specialties identified 10 KCs of immunotoxic agents, namely, 1) covalently binds to proteins to form novel antigens, 2) affects antigen processing and presentation, 3) alters immune cell signaling, 4) alters immune cell proliferation, 5) modifies cellular differentiation, 6) alters immune cell-cell communication, 7) alters effector function of specific cell types, 8) alters immune cell trafficking, 9) alters cell death processes, and 10) breaks down immune tolerance. The group considered how these KCs could influence immune processes and contribute to hypersensitivity, inappropriate enhancement, immunosuppression, or autoimmunity.DiscussionKCs can be used to improve efforts to identify agents that cause immunotoxicity via one or more mechanisms, to develop better testing and biomarker approaches to evaluate immunotoxicity, and to enable a more comprehensive and mechanistic understanding of adverse effects of exposures on the immune system. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10800.

The key characteristics (KC) of human carcinogens provide a uniform approach to evaluating mechanistic evidence in cancer hazard identification. Refinements to the approach were requested by organizations and individuals applying the KCs. We assembled an expert committee with knowledge of carcinogenesis and experience in applying the KCs in cancer hazard identification. We leveraged this expertise and examined the literature to more clearly describe each KC, identify current and emerging assays and in vivo biomarkers that can be used to measure them, and make recommendations for future assay development. We found that the KCs are clearly distinct from the Hallmarks of Cancer, that interrelationships among the KCs can be leveraged to strengthen the KC approach (and an understanding of environmental carcinogenesis), and that the KC approach is applicable to the systematic evaluation of a broad range of potential cancer hazards in vivo and in vitro We identified gaps in coverage of the KCs by current assays. Future efforts should expand the breadth, specificity, and sensitivity of validated assays and biomarkers that can measure the 10 KCs. Refinement of the KC approach will enhance and accelerate carcinogen identification, a first step in cancer prevention.See all articles in this CEBP Focus section, "Environmental Carcinogenesis: Pathways to Prevention."

Drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs) are a type of adverse drug reaction that can occur with different classes of drugs and affect multiple organ systems and patient populations. DHRs can be classified as allergic or non-allergic based on the cellular mechanisms involved. Whereas nonallergic reactions rely mainly on the innate immune system, allergic reactions involve the generation of an adaptive immune response. Consequently, drug allergies are DHRs for which an immunological mechanism, with antibody and/or T cell, is demonstrated. Despite decades of research, methods to predict the potential for a new chemical entity to cause DHRs or to correctly attribute DHRs to a specific mechanism and a specific molecule are not well-established. This review will focus on allergic reactions induced by systemically administered low-molecular weight drugs with an emphasis on drug- and patient-specific factors that could influence the development of DHRs. Strategies for predicting and diagnosing DHRs, including potential tools based on the current state of the science, will also be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors describe an assay to quantitate DNA fragmentation using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling (TUNEL) stain, adapted to a 96-well microplate format for adherent cells, and an [...]

Observational and clinical studies have associated increased cancer risks with primary or acquired immunodeficiencies, autoimmunity, and use of immunotherapies to treat chronic inflammation (e.g. autoimmunity) or support organ engraftment. Understanding of the relationship between immune status and cancer risk is generally grounded in two juxtaposing paradigms: that the immune system protects the host via surveillance of tumors and oncogenic viruses (e.g. immunosurveillance model) and that chronic inflammation can augment tumor growth and metastasis (inflammation model). Whereas these models support a role of immune status in many cancers, they are insufficient to explain the disproportionate increase in B-cell lymphoma risk observed across patient populations with either chronic immunosuppression or inflammation. Evaluation for the presence of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in lymphomas obtained from various populations demonstrates a variable role for the virus in lymphomagenesis across patient populations. An evaluation of the DNA alterations found in lymphomas and an understanding of B-cell ontogeny help to provide insight into the unique susceptibility of lymphocytes, primarily B-cells, to oncogenic transformation. EBV-independent B-cell oncogenic transformation is driven by chronic antigenic stimulation due to either inflammation (as seen in patients with autoimmune disease or a tissue allograft) or to unresolved infection (as seen in immunosuppressed patients), and the transformation arises as a result of DNA damage from genomic recombination and mutation during class switching and somatic hypermutation. This model explains the increased background rate of lymphoma in some patients with autoimmunity, and highlights the challenge of resolving the confounding that occurs between disease severity and use of targeted immunotherapies to treat chronic inflammation. The ability to distinguish between disease- and treatment-related risk of lymphoma and an appreciation of the etiology of B-cell transformation is central to an improved risk assessment by scientists, clinicians and regulators, including the approval, labeling, and chronic use of immunotherapies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional methods for toxicological assessment have indicated that the immune system is a frequent target of toxic insult following subchronic or chronic exposure to xenobiotics. However, most of the xenobiotics evaluated in standardized protocols were environmental chemicals and correlation with available clinical data was not possible. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the potential immunosuppressive effects of pharmaceutical drugs using a standardized protocol developed for immunotoxicological assessment. Two groups of pharmaceutical drugs were utilized: (a) drugs without known immunosuppressive effect linked to their utilization in human therapy (cimetidine, furosemide, indomethacin, amoxicillin, and procainamide) and (b) immunosuppressive drugs (azathioprine, cyclosporine A, and dexamethasone). tests using B6C3F1 mice were performed after a 28-day repeat dose regimen and assessed: (a) immunopathology, (b) cell-mediated immunity, (c) humoral immunity, and (d) nonspecific immunity. Host resistance to was also assessed following exposure to immunosuppressive drugs. The results showed that (a) immunopathology and immune function assays were necessary to detect all immunotoxicants and (b) the effects observed with nonimmunotoxic drugs were sometimes statistically significant but the biological significance of these effects is unlikely. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hu714MuXHu is a recombinant chimeric murine-human monoclonal antibody directed against interleukin-15 (IL-15), a proinflammatory cytokine associated with memory CD8+ and natural killer (NK) T-cell activation and implicated in the pathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. A pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) model was developed to describe the NK cell count reduction in cynomolgus monkeys after treatment with Hu714MuXHu. Cynomolgus monkeys were dosed with Hu714MuXHu in three studies: as a single dose at 0.1 or 1 mg·kg(-1) i.v.; weekly for 5 weeks at 0, 30, 60, or 150 mg·kg(-1) i.v. or 150 mg·kg(-1) s.c.; weekly for 13 weeks at 0, 5, 30, or 150 mg·kg(-1) s.c. Serum Hu714MuXHu concentration-time data were analyzed using noncompartmental analysis and the PK/NK cell count relationship was assessed via simultaneous PK/PD modeling. Hu714MuXHu PK was approximately dose-proportional between 0.1-150 mg·kg(-1) for i.v. and 5-150 mg·kg(-1) for s.c. administration with an elimination half-life of 12.7-18 days. Hu714MuXHu administration resulted in rapid and marked reductions in NK cell counts after the first dose which recovered fully after the serum Hu714MuXHu concentrations approached 0.1 μg·mL(-1) (assay limit of quantification). PK/PD modeled Hu714MuXHu effects on NK cells had an EC 50 of 0.09 μg·mL(-1). In summary, weekly i.v. or s.c. doses with Hu714MuXHu for up to 3 months in cynomolgus monkeys demonstrated linear PK and significant NK cell count reduction, which was described using PK/PD modeling. This approach may be used to guide investigative product dose selections for inflammatory diseases where NK cell count alterations are quantifiable.