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Introduction
Luisetto (2016) mentioned that Poisoning is a rare event often, but in some
cases whit critical consequences and so the right diagnosis and therapy is a golden
endpoint. The toxicology medical equip must be multi-professional. Antidotes are
used not often but rarely, and physicians need rapid information also in medicinal
chemistry and toxicology field. The management of the systems must involve
clinical and logistic pharmacist.
This unit will focus on the definitions of toxicology and any other terms related.
It also deals with the history of toxicology and its various fields of practice. Please
proceed immediately to the “Unlocking of Difficulties” part since the first lesson is
also definition of essential terms.
Unlocking of Difficulties
To attend the following intended learning outcomes for the first lesson of
the course, you need to fully understand the following essential knowledge that
will be laid down in the succeeding pages. Please note that you are not limited to
exclusively refer to these resources. Thus, you are expected to utilize other books,
research articles and other resources such as e-journals and various pharmacy
mobile applications.
Key Terms:
Lecture Notes
A. ANTIQUITY
➢ Knowledge of animal venoms and plant extracts or hunting, warfare,
and assassination presumably predate recorded history.
Figure 2: Hippocrates
(Hektoen International Journal, 2021)
Figure 3: Theophrastus
(Science Photo Library Limited, 2021)
▪ Lucius Cornelius Sulla - issued “Lex Cornelia”, the 1st law against
poisoning.
Figure 6: Sulla
(March Calender, 2014)
Figure 7: Maimonides
(Lapham`s Quarterly, 2021)
▪ PARACELSUS (1493-1541)
➢ Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus Von Hohenheim-
Paracelsus
➢ “All substances are poisons: There is none which is not a poison. The
right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy”.
➢ Father of Toxicology in Renaissance period.
➢ Physician- alchemist, formulate many revolutionary views that
remain integral to the structure of toxicology, pharmacology, and
therapeutics.
➢ He focused on the primary toxic gent as chemical entity
➢ He stated that:
1. Experimentation is essential in the examination of responses
to chemicals
2. One should make distinction between the therapeutic and
toxic properties of chemicals
3. These properties are sometimes but not always in
indistinguishable, except by dose
4. One can ascertain in degree of specificity of chemicals and
their therapeutic or toxic effects.
Figure 9: Paracelsus
(Britannica, 2020)
3. Regulatory Toxicology
➢ has the responsibility or deciding, on the basis of data provided by
descriptive and mechanistic toxicologists, whether a drug or another
chemical poses a sufficiently low risk to be marketed or a stated
purposes.
4. Forensic Toxicology
➢ is a hybrid of analytic chemistry and fundamental toxicologic
principles that focuses primarily on the medicolegal aspects of the
harmful effects of chemicals on humans and animals.
9. Reproductive toxicology
➢ is the study of the occurrence of adverse effects on the male or
female reproductive system that may result from exposure to
chemical or physical agents.
▪ Hazard – the likelihood that injury will occur in a given situation or setting;
the condition of use and exposure are primary consideration.
▪ Toxic dose or Poisonous dose – is the dose that is harmful to both the
healthy and the sick, but is not fatal.
▪ Lethal or Fatal Dose – is the dose which kills or is the dose which is just
sufficient to cause death.
▪ LD – Lethal dose
▪ LD50 – the amount (dose) which kills 50% of a group of test animals
(usually 10 or more) or tested on 50 animals.
▪ LD100 – the amount (dose) which kills 100% of a group of test animals
(usually 10 or more) or tested on 100 animals.
▪ Tolerance
➢ is a state o decreased responsiveness to a toxic effect of a chemical
resulting from prior exposure to that chemical or to a structurally
related chemical.
▪ THERAPEUTIC INDEX
➢ is defined as the ratio of the dose required to produce a toxic effect
and the dose needed to elicit the desired therapeutic response.
➢ used to compare the therapeutically effective dose to the toxic dose
of a pharmaceutical agent.
➢ The common method used to derive the TI is to use the 50% dose-
response points, including TD50 (toxic dose) and ED50 (effective
dose).
➢ For example, if the TD50 is 200 and the ED50 is 20 mg, the TI would
be 10.
Figure 24: Comparison of Therapeutic Index of two drugs
(U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021)
▪ Margin of Safety
➢ The Margin of Safety (MOS) is usually calculated as the ratio of the
toxic dose to 1% of the population (TD01) to the dose that is 99%
effective to the population (ED99).
Formula:
MOS=TD01
ED99
Figure 26: A dose-response curve showing doses where the NOAEL and LOAEL
occur for a substance
(U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021)
Focus Questions
Guide questions for Unit 1 discussions:
1. Why toxicology is essential in the field of pharmacy practice?
2. As a future pharmacist, how will you educate the public in handling drug toxicity?
Related Readings
Related readings will be posted via schoology to supplement the foundation of
the topics discussed in Unit 1 module.
Introduction
Gupta (2016) stated that toxicokinetics refers to the study of
absorption, distribution, metabolism/biotransformation, and excretion
(ADME) of toxicants/xenobiotics in relation to time. The basic kinetic
concepts for the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of
chemicals in the body system initially came from the study of drug actions or
pharmacology; therefore, this area of study is traditionally referred to as
pharmacokinetics.
This unit will focus on the routes and exposure of toxicants in our
body. Please proceed immediately to the “Unlocking of Difficulties” in order
to understand the terms used in the Lecture notes.
Unlocking of Difficulties
Key Terms:
Lecture Notes
I. TOXICOKINETICS OF CHEMICALS
▪ Toxicity involves toxicant delivery to its target or targets and
interactions with endogenous target molecules that may trigger
perturbations in cell function and/or structure or that may initiate
repair mechanisms at the molecular, cellular, and or tissue levels.
2
Figure 1: Toxication of methanol
(Berland, 2020)
3
Figure 3: Apoptosis
(Online Biology Notes, 2020)
▪ Toxicokinetics
➢ refers to the quantitation of the time course of toxicants in the
body during the processes of absorption, distribution,
metabolism, and excretion (ADME) or clearance of toxicants.
➢ It is a reflection of how the body handles toxicants as indicated
by the plasma concentration of that xenobiotic at various time
points
4
Figure 4: Toxicokinetics
(Springer Nature Switzerland, 2020)
▪ CELL MEMBRANES
➢ Toxicants usually pass through a number of cells, such as the
stratified epithelium of the skin, the thin cell layers of the lungs
or
➢ the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, capillary endothelium, and
ultimately the cells of the target organ.
➢ The basic unit of the cell membrane is a Lipid bilayer composed
primarily of phospholipids, glycolipids, and cholesterol.
5
traverse from regions of higher concentration to regions of
lower concentration without any energy expenditure.
2. SPECIALIZE TRANSPORT
➢ Cell provides energy to translocate the toxicant across its
membrane.
➢ Some compounds are too large to pass through aqueous pores
or too insoluble in lipids to diffuse across the lipid domains of
membranes.
➢ Three Types of Specialize Transport: FACILITATED DIFFUSION,
ACTIVE TRANSPORT & XENOBIOTIC TRANSPORTER
6
➢ Xenobiotic transporters are responsible for the uptake of
some chemicals into cells, and extremely important for the
export of chemicals out of cells.
Focus Questions
7
Related Readings
Related readings will be posted via schoology to supplement the
foundation of the topics discussed in Unit 2 module.
References
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety retrieved last February 8,
2021 from
https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/hazard_risk.html
Klaasen, Curtis D., Casarett and Doull’s Toxicology The Basic Science of
Poisons, Third edition, McGraw-Hill, 2015