Toxicology

Junnin Gay L. Garay, RPh, CPh, MS Pharm

junningaray@gmail.com
Toxicology
• Branch of pharmacology that encompases the deleterious effects of
chemicals in biological systems.
• Is the study of the adverse effects of xenobiotics on living systems.
Xenobiotics: substances that are foreign to the body or to an
ecological system.
• Study of the effect mechanisms and treatment of poisons.
• Science of poisons.
“All substance are poisons there is none that is not a poison.
The right dose differentiates a poison from a remedy.”
-Paracelsus (16th Century)
Poisons Vs. Toxins
Poisons
• Any agent that may cause serious
damage/disease/injury/death
when applied or developed inside
the body.
• Chemical substances that impact
biological functions in other
organisms.
• Use?
• Corpus delecti (body of evidence)
Toxins
• Toxins are substances created by
plants and animals that are
poisonous (toxic) to humans. Toxins
may also include some medicines
that are helpful in small doses, but
poisonous in large amounts. Most
toxins that cause problems in
humans come from germs such as
bacteria.
• Example: Tetrodotoxin from Vibrio
species; Anthrax from Bacillus
anthracis
Types of Toxins
Types of Toxins
Types of Poison
Definition of Terms:
• CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY: Focuses on the effects of substances in patients
caused by accidental poisonings or intentional overdoses of medications,
drugs of abuse, household products, or various other chemicals.
• INTOXICATION: Toxicity associated with any chemical substance.
• POISONING: A clinical toxicity secondary to accidental exposure.
• OVERDOSE: An intentional exposure with the intent of causing self-injury
or death.
• TOXICITY: describes the degree to which a substance is poisonous or can
cause injury depending on a variety of factors:
• Dose
• Duration of Action
• Route of Exposure
• Shape and structure of the chemical itself, and the individual human factors.
Definition of Terms:
• SELECTIVE TOXICITY: means that the chemical will produce injury to
one kind of living matter without harming another form of life, even
though the two may exist close together.
• SENSITIVE SUB-POPULATION: describes those persons who are more
at risk from illness due to exposure to hazardous substances that the
average, healthy person. These persons usually include the very
young, the chronically ill, and the very old. It may also include
pregnant women, and women of childbearing age. Depending on the
type of contaminant, other factors (age, weight, lifestyle, sex) could
be used to describe this sub-population.
• HARMFUL OR ADVERSE EFFECTS: Are those that are damaging to
either the survival or normal function of the individual.
Definition of Terms:
• HAZARD- likelihood that injury will occur in a given situation or
setting.
• RISK- expected frequency of the occurrence of an undesirable effect
arising from exposure to a chemical or physical agent.
• TOXIDROMES: A group of signs, symptoms, and laboratory findings
that suggest a specific ingestion.
TOXICOKINETICS VS TOXICODYNAMICS
TOXICOKINETICS
• Describes the fate of toxic
compounds in the body. The
measurement of the time course
of absorption, distribution,
biotransformation, and
excretion of toxic compouds.
TOXOCODYNAMICS
• Describes the determination and
quantification of the sequence
of events at the cellular and
molecular level.
TOXICOGENETICS VS. TOXICOGENOMICS
Toxicogenetics
• Describes consideration of
stable and heritable alterations
in the genome that are able to
influence the relative
susceptibility
Toxicogenomics
• Describes the analysis of gene
expression changes induced in a
biological system by exposure to
a xenobiotic.