Hohenstein Institute finds new textiles allergens test
Researchers at the Institute for Hygiene and Biotechnology (IHB) at the Hohenstein Institute have developed a simple selective in vitro cell culture test that can be used to calculate the allergenic potential of textiles, for example where unknown dyes, dye components or other chemicals are used for which no sensitisation data is yet available. Manufacturers will receive a certificate for products that are tested successfully and will be able to endorse and advertise them using the Hohenstein quality label ‘Skin-friendly – suitable for allergy sufferers’.
In order to test raw materials, textiles and other products, scientists at the IHB use special immune cells which act like "guard cells" for the skin. These immune cells are able to absorb external antigens penetrating the skin from neighbouring cells in the epidermis, identify them and trigger the appropriate immune response. They are therefore critical in deciding on the starting point for an allergy. In the test, the guard cells are kept in the cell culture and, as they do in the human skin, they perform the job of identifying a chemical as an allergen. If they recognise that a substance released from the textile is alien to the body, they present the allergen together with specific marker molecules on their cell surface. From these marker molecules it is possible to quantify the critical process of identifying the substance and classifying it as an allergen.
