THE IPCS COLLABORATIVE STUDY ON NEUROBEHAVIORAL SCREENING METHODS - VII - SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

In the International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) Collaborative Study on Neurobehavioral Screening Methods, eight participating labor atories used a standard battery of behavioral tests to determine, in r ats, the effects of seven representative chemicals following acute and repeated dosing. The results of the collaborative study indicate good agreement across laboratories with regard to the data collected in ve hicle controls. It was clear, however, that some behavioral measures h ad significantly more variability than other tests. The laboratories a lso demonstrated the ability to detect known neurotoxic chemicals and identify profiles of effects that differed from non-neurotoxic agents. The results of the study suggest that appropriate training of personn el is crucial to ensure tile reliability of the test battery. The resu lts also underscore the importance of dose selection in behavioral scr eening studies, since it is sometimes difficult to determine the speci ficity of behavioral changes in animals receiving high doses of some c hemicals. The collaborative study also emphasizes the need to utilize a battery of tests in screening a wide range of potential neurotoxic a gents. Analysis of data from such studies poses unique challenges due to the large number of tests and test times, and the consequent possib ility of false positives. Some statistical concerns may De alleviated by grouping the results from tests that measure similar functions into neurobiological domains. Although this approach improves confidence i n the biological relevance of chemical-induced changes in behavior, it may also lead to false negatives. The exploration of other statistica l approaches to analyze data from experiments using a test battery is encouraged. Nevertheless, results of the collaborative study strongly support the use of behavioral tests in hazard identification. (C) 1997 Intox Press, Inc.