03033 - Toxicology

Learning outcomes

This course is concerned with studying the effect of toxic chemical agents,  drugs and food additives in living organisms, placing in the spotlight the basics of toxicology, causes and symptoms of toxicity and the mechanisms of toxic action at the cellular and molecular level. The course also provides an overview of the toxicological prerequisites for evaluating new drugs and to demonstrate the harmful effects of toxic agents in general and of environmental toxins.

Course contents

General Toxicology. Principles of Toxicology, spectrum of undesired effects; mechanisms of toxicity; dose- response curve. Absorption, distribution, and excretion of toxicants; biotransformation of xenobiotics. Toxicogenetic.

Molecular and cellular aspects of Toxicology. Oxidative stress. Cell death. Genetic toxicology. Chemical carcinogenesis. Teratogens.

Target organ toxicity .Toxic response of the liver. Toxic response of the kidney. Toxic response of the respiratory system. Toxic response of the central nervous system. Toxic response of the heart and vascular system. Toxic response of the reproductive system. Toxic response of the immune system. Toxic response of the skin.

Special Toxicology. The process of drug development and regulatory aspects. Safety of biotech medicines. Risk assessment and risk/benefit evaluation. Chemoprevention of chronic degenerative diseases. Risk of food additives.

MODULE  "APPLIED AND REGULATORY TOXICOLOGY "

Experimental methods in Toxicology: descriptive, mechanistic and theoretical methods. Alternative methodologies to the use of animals in Toxicology: development, validation and application to the screening and characterization of organ toxicity.

Animal descriptive studies: general principles, predictivity and selection of doses; aims of the studies. Acute toxicity studies: aims, lethality curves, limit of acute exposure; methods: experimental design, analyses and observations. Repeated dose toxicity tests versus acute toxicity studies, analyses and observations.

Methods for the study of carcinogenic and genotoxic potential. Types of studies for the evaluation of carcinogenicity. Sensitivity and specificity. Long-term carcinogenity studies. Problems of results' interpretation. Short-term genetic toxicology studies. Mutagenicity tests: principles; Ames test; mammalian culture tests; test with transgenic animals. Chromosome aberration test; micronucleus test. Methods for aneuploidy detection. Structure-activity relationship, structural alert. Result evaluation of short-term tests.

Methods for the study of reprotoxic potential: multigenerational studies, fertility studies, teratogenic potential, peri- and post-natal toxicity.

Readings/Bibliography

 Casarett & Doull's Tossicologia -I fondamenti dell'azione delle sostanze tossiche, EMSI, VI ed., Roma, 2007. 

C.L. Galli, E. Corsini, M. Marinovich - Tossicologia - Piccin, Padova, 2004.

G. Cantelli-Forti, C.L. Galli, P. Hrelia, M. Marinovich - Tossicologia molecolare e cellulare - UTET, Torino, 2000.

P. Ghi et al. - Tossicologia. Principi e applicazione all'uso dei farmaci e deim prodotti della salute.- Ed. Minerva medica, Torino, 2009.

Teaching methods

Lectures and seminars.

Assessment methods

The exam will consist of an oral test aimed at assessing the student's understanding and knowledge of the topics set up during the course.

Teaching tools

PC, CD files, websites.

Office hours

See the website of Patrizia Hrelia

See the website of Carmela Fimognari

See the website of Gino Toffano