B cell increases and ex vivo IL-2 production as secondary endpoints for the detection of sensitizers in non-radioisotopic local lymph node assay using flow cytometry

► B/T cell increases and cytokine production are hallmark of sensitization response. ► We examined if B/T cell and cytokine increases may help detect sensitizers in LLNA. ► All 22 reference substances listed in OECD TG429 were tested in LLNA:BrdU-FCM. ► LLNA:BrdU-FCM showed a good concordance to traditional LLNA. ► B cell and IL-2 could also identify sensitizers with comparable accuracy to tLLNA.