• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.46-55
• /
• 1998

Any compound which disrupts the integrity of psychological aspects of performance, in particular, cognitive ability and psychomotor function analogous to the psychological behaviors of routine life, is known to be behaviorally toxic. A significant level of behavioral toxicity will interfere with patient safety and quality of life, and also may be counter-therapeutic by exacerbating the condition that the drug was prescribed for. Now, behavioral toxicity of psychotropic drugs has become one of the main growth areas of psychopharmacological research. Evaluation of the potential of drug-induced behavioral toxicity is important not only to the experimental researcher involved in human psychopharmacology, but also to the clinical practitioner treating psychiatric patients. This article attempts to describe behavioral toxicity of the three classes of psychotropic drugs - benzodiazepines, antidepressants and neuroleptics. After a brief discussion of some methodological issues arising in the investigation of behavioral toxicity, each of these drug classes is reviewed in the context of practical importance rather than purely scientific concern. The last session summarizes some suggestions for future studies on drug-induced behavioral toxicity.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.54-68
• /
• 2011

$^1H$ nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of biological samples has been proven to be an effective and nondestructive approach to probe drug toxicity within an organism. In this study, ketoprofen toxicity was investigated using $^1H$-NMR spectroscopy coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. Histopathologic test of ketoprofen-induced acute gastrointestinal damage in rats demonstrated a significant dose-dependent effect. Furthermore, principal component analysis (PCA) derived from $^1H$-NMR spectra of urinary samples showed clear separation between the vehicle-treated control and ketoprofen-treated groups. Moreover, PCA derived from endogenous metabolite concentrations through targeted profiling revealed a dose-dependent metabolic shift between the vehicle-treated control, low-dose ketoprofen-treated (10 mg/kg body weight), and high-dose ketoprofen-treated (50 mg/kg) groups coinciding with their gastric damage scores after ketoprofen administration. The resultant metabolic profiles demonstrated that the ketoprofen-induced gastric damage exhibited energy metabolism perturbations that increased urinary levels of citrate, cis-aconitate, succinate, and phosphocreatine. In addition, ketoprofen administration induced an enhancement of xenobiotic activity in fatty oxidation, which caused increase levels of N-isovalerylglycine, adipate, phenylacetylglycine, dimethylamine, betaine, hippurate, 3-indoxylsulfate, N,N-dimethylglycine, trimethyl-N-oxide, and glycine. These findings demonstrate that $^1H$-NMR-based urinary metabolic profiling can be used for noninvasive and rapid way to diagnose adverse drug effects and is suitable for explaining the possible biological pathways perturbed by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug toxicity.

• Genomics & Informatics
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.41-49
• /
• 2010

Statins are competitive inhibitors of hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase and used most frequently to reduce plasma cholesterol levels and to decrease cardiovascular events. However, statins also have been reported to have undesirable side effects such as myotoxicity and hepatotoxicity associated with their intrinsic efficacy mechanisms. Clinical studies recurrently reported that statin therapy elevated the level of liver enzymes such as ALT and AST in patients suggesting possible liver toxicity due to statins. This observation has been drawn great attention since statins are the most prescribed drugs and statin-therapy was extended to a larger number of high-risk patients. Here we employed rat primary hepatocytes and microarray technique to understand underlying mechanism responsible for statin-induced liver toxicity on cell level. We isolated genes whose expressions were commonly modulated by statin treatments and examined their biological functions. It is of interest that those genes have function related to response to stress in particular immunity and defense in cells. Our study provided the basic information on cellular mechanism of statin-induced cytotoxicity and may serve for finding indicator genes of statin -induced toxicity in rat primary hepatocytes.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.268-272
• /
• 2012

Nephrotoxicity occurs when kidney-specific detoxification and excretion do not work properly due to the damage or destruction of kidney function by exogenous or endogenous toxicants. Exposure to drugs often results in toxicity in kidney which represents the major control system maintaining homeostasis of body and thus is especially susceptible to xenobiotics. Understanding the toxic mechanisms for nephrotoxicity provides useful information on the development of drugs with therapeutic benefits with reduced side effects. Mechanisms for drug-induced nephrotoxicity include changes in glomerular hemodynamics, tubular cell toxicity, inflammation, crystal nephropathy, rhabdomyolysis, and thrombotic microangiopathy. Biomarkers have been identified for the assessment of nephrotoxicity. The discovery and development of novel biomarkers that can diagnose kidney damage earlier and more accurately are needed for effective prevention of drug-induced nephrotoxicity. Although some of them fail to confer specificity and sensitivity, several promising candidates of biomarkers were recently proved for assessment of nephrotoxicity. In this review, we summarize mechanisms of drug-induced nephrotoxicity and present the list of drugs that cause nephrotoxicity and biomarkers that can be used for early assessment of nephrotoxicity.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
• /
• v.31 no.1
• /
• pp.6-11
• /
• 2022

To date, various techniques have been utilized to assess the contractility of cardiomyocytes and their response to drug-induced toxicity. However, these techniques are either invasive or involve complex fabrication methods and expertise. Here, we introduce the use of video-based analysis software to track the motion of cardiomyocytes and assess their contractility. The software, called "Tracker", is freely available and this is the first attempt at using it for cardiac contractility measurement. We used the software to measure the contractile properties of cells cultured on a rigid substrate and two flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates having different elastic moduli day-wise up to eight days. Contractility was found to be highest in the most flexible substrate. Subsequently, the cardiotoxicity response of the cells on three different substrates was analyzed with verapamil. It was observed that the cells on rigid substrate were primarily affected by drug-induced toxicity, while the drug had a lesser impact on cells on the more flexible PDMS substrate. Evidently, the flexible substrate aided the maturation of cells and had lower drug toxicity, while the cells on PS could not fully mature. The assessment of cardiomyocytes using "Tracker" proved to be simple and reliable.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.44 no.5
• /
• pp.717-724
• /
• 2020

Background: Malignant arrhythmias require drug therapy. However, most of the currently available antiarrhythmic drugs have significant side effects. Ginsenoside Rg2 exhibits excellent cardioprotective effects and appears to be a promising candidate for cardiovascular drug development. So far, the oral toxicity and antiarrhythmic effects of Rg2 have not been evaluated. Methods: Acute oral toxicity of Rg2 was assessed by the Limit Test method in mice. Subchronic oral toxicity was determined by repeated dose 28-day toxicity study in rats. Antiarrhythmic activities of Rg2 were evaluated in calcium chloride-induced arrhythmic rats. Antiarrhythmic mechanism of Rg2 was investigated in arrhythmic rats and H9c2 cardiomyocytes. Results: The results of toxicity studies indicated that Rg2 exhibited no single-dose (10 g/kg) acute oral toxicity. And 28-day repeated dose treatment with Rg2 (1.75, 3.5 and 5 g/kg/d) demonstrated minimal, if any, subchronic toxicity. Serum biochemical examination showed that total cholesterol in the high-dose cohort was dramatically decreased, whereas prothrombin time was increased at Day 28, suggesting that Rg2 might regulate lipid metabolism and have a potential anticoagulant effect. Moreover, pretreatment with Rg2 showed antiarrhythmic effects on the rat model of calcium chloride induced arrhythmia, in terms of the reduced duration time, mortality, and incidence of malignant arrhythmias. The antiarrhythmic mechanism of Rg2 might be the inhibition of calcium influx through L-type calcium channels by suppressing the phosphorylation of Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II. Conclusion: Our findings support the development of Rg2 as a promising antiarrhythmic drug with fewer side effects for clinical use.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.438-445
• /
• 2009

We investigated global gene expression from both mouse liver and mouse hepatic cell lines treated with acetaminophen (APAP) in order to compare in vivo and in vitro profiles and to assess the feasibility of the two systems. During our analyses of gene expression profiles, we picked up several down-regulated genes, such as the cytochrome P450 family 51 (Cyp51), sulfotransferase family cytosolic 1C member 2 (Sult1c2), 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A synthase 1 (Hmgcs1), and several genes that were up-regulated by APAP, such as growth arrest and DNA-damage-inducible 45 alpha (Gadd45a), transformation related protein 53 inducible nuclear protein 1 (Trp53inp1) and zinc finger protein 688 (Zfp688). For validation of gene function, synthesized short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) for these genes were transfected in a mouse hepatic cell line, BNL CL.2, for investigation of cell viability and mRNA expression level. We found that siRNA transfection of these genes induced down-regulation of respective mRNA expression and decreased cell viability. siRNA transfection for Cyp51 and others induced morphological alterations, such as membrane thickening and nuclear condensation. Taken together, siRNA transfection of these six genes decreased cell viability and induced alteration in cellular morphology, along with effective inhibition of respective mRNA, suggesting that these genes could be associated with APAP-induced toxicity. Furthermore, these genes may be used in the investigation of hepatotoxicity, for better understanding of its mechanism.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2000.10a
• /
• pp.158.1-158.1
• /
• 2000

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.46-54
• /
• 2023

The announcement of the US Environmental Protection Agency that it will stop conducting or funding experimental studies on mammals by 2035 should prioritize ongoing efforts to develop and use alternative toxicity screening methods to animal testing. Toxicity screening is likely to be further developed considering the combination of human-induced pluripotent-stem-cell-derived organ-on-a-chip and multielectrode array (MEA) technologies. We briefly review the current status of MEA technology and MEA-based neuropharmacological drug screening using various cellular model systems. Highlighting the coronavirus disease pandemic, we shortly comment on the importance of early prediction of toxicity by applying artificial intelligence to the development of rapid screening methods.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
• /
• 2007.11a
• /
• pp.55-56
• /
• 2007