Categories: Medicinal Chemistry >> Safety, Toxicology

Toxicology and Risk Assessment: A Comprehensive Introduction

Description

This new book, written by two outstanding scientists in the field, describes the basic principles of toxic mechanisms and organ toxicity, providing detailed information on specific mechanisms or chemicals for exemplification. The goal is to provide sufficient information that the reader becomes familiar with the basic concepts in toxicology to enable him or her to understand the basic principles in toxicology and to evaluate the risks at given exposures. With this basic understanding the reader also will be able to critically evaluate the available information on a chemical and to identify data gaps.

In addition to the introductory chapters the book will offer the following systematic information, presented in six special sections:

• Principles in Toxicology
• Organ Toxicology
• Methods in Toxicology
• Risk Assessment
• Risk Management
• Toxicity of Chemicals

Fulfilling a demand for such a book, this will be a welcomed introductory text for students and non-experts alike to focus on and understand the principles of hazard identification and risk assessment of toxicants. Relevant to all those studying toxicology, biochemistry, biology, medicine and chemistry, as well as toxicologists in hospitals, universities and in industry.

Editorial Review

Toxicology is an interdisciplinary science that explains and quantifies the toxic effects of various substances and mixtures in terms of chemical, pharmaceutical, biological and mathematical principles. It is precisely this interplay between disparate sciences that makes toxicology textbooks so interesting – they link areas of specialization together and also offer different perspectives. Moreover, a basic knowledge of toxicology is indispensable for chemists in the laboratory and manufacturing environments. From a career perspective, on the other hand, familiarity with the molecular biological underpinnings is likewise important for rapidly gaining a foothold in the "Life Sciences". Whether one gleans these fundamentals from books on medicinal chemistry or biochemistry is of lesser importance, but anyone with an interest in side effects and toxic effects should take a look at this work by Greim and Snyder.

The book "Toxicology and Risk Assessment - A Comprehensive Introduction" contains just what the title suggests. It offers a detailed analysis of the principles of toxicology that is still easy to understand. It is amazing that so many facets of the field are highlighted in this volume, so that every reader will find more than a single chapter from which to draw benefit. This piece is a definite must for students who will specialize in toxicology, but the book is also a recommended read for chemists, since it lays out principles that will serve them well in their later professional lives, from anatomy to molecular biology, and from pharmacokinetics to statistical methods. Even if the focus is more on the toxic effects, this work addresses universal concepts that also figure strongly into drug development, such as metabolism.

Depending on the author, the explanations of cell biology and molecular biology are well illustrated; most notably, the toxic effects of individual selected substances are also exemplified mechanistically with chemical schemes. There are only a few chapters that are basically oriented toward future toxicologists as technical experts, or even toward physicians and biologists, but these chapters still make worthwhile reading by virtue of their comprehensive descriptions. The use of statistical methods for determining properties and concrete testing methods receive extensive treatment and complete the picture, as does the examination of chemical classes at the end, even though the focus is on chemical classes rather than individual substances.

This book is a sensible investment for any student with an interest in toxicology, since it conveys the fundamentals in an understandable manner, and requires little previous knowledge. Those who will not specialize in toxicology will certainly skip some of the chapters, such as those on statistical methods and specific testing principles, but will undoubtedly benefit from the wealth of information found in other chapters. Anyone who intends to pursue specialized study in this field will find this book to be a good, comprehensive overview.

Contents

1 Introduction to the Discipline of Toxicology (Helmut Greim and Robert Snyder).
1.1 Introduction.
1.2 The Risk-Assessment Process.
1.3 Toxicological Evaluation of New and Existing Chemicals.

2 Principles.
2.1 Toxicokinetics (Johannes G. Filser).
2.2A Phase I Metabolism (Jeroen T.M. Buters).
2.2A.1 Introduction.
2.2A.2 The Enzymes Involved in Phase I Metabolism.
2.2A.3 Phase III (Metabolism).
2.2A.4 Summary.
2.2B Drug Metabolism (Leslie Schwarz and John B. Watkins).
2.2B.1 Conjugation.
2.2B.2 Hydrolysis.

2.3 Toxicogenetics (Lesley Stanley).
2.4 Cytotoxicity (Leslie Schwarz and John B. Watkins).
2.5 Receptor-Mediated Mechanisms (Jens Schlossmann and Franz Hofmann).
2.6 Mixtures and Combinations of Chemicals.
2.7 Chemical Carcinogenesis: Genotoxic and Nongenotoxic Mechanisms (Thomas Efferth and Bernd Kaina).
2.8 Reproductive Toxicology (Horst Spielmann).
2.9 Ecotoxicology: Not just Wildlife Toxicology (Peter Calow and Valery E. Forbes).

3 Organ Toxicology.
3.1 The Gastrointestinal Tract (Michael Schwenk).
3.2 The Liver (Leslie Schwarz and John B. Watkins).
3.3 The Respiratory System (Jurgen Pauluhn).
3.4 The Nervous System (Gunter P. Eckert and Walter E. Muller).
3.5 Behavioral Neurotoxicology (Andreas Seeber).
3.6 The Skin (Tibor A. Rozman, Myriam Straube and Karl K. Rozman).
3.7 The Kidney and Urinary Tract (Helmut Greim).
3.8 Toxicology of the Blood and Bone Marrow (Robert Snyder).
3.9 Immunotoxicology (Carol R. Gardner and Debra L. Laskin).
3.10 The Eye (Ines M. Lanzl).
3.11 The Cardiovascular System (Helmut Greim).

4 Methods in Toxicology.
4.1 OECD Test Guidelines for Toxicity Tests in vivo (Rudiger Bartsch).
4.2A Mutagenicity Tests in vivo (Ilse-Dore Adler).
4.2A.1 Introduction.
4.2A.2 Chromosomal Mutations in Somatic Cells.
4.2A.3 Gene Mutations in Somatic Cells.
4.2A.4 Chromosome Mutations in Germ Cells.
4.2A.5 Gene Mutations in Germ Cells.
4.2A.6 Summary.
4.2B In vitro Tests for Genotoxicity (Ulrich Andrae and Gunter Speit).
4.2B.1 Introduction.
4.2B.2 Xenobiotic Metabolism in vitro.
4.2B.3 Test Systems Employing Bacteria.
4.2B.4 Test Systems Employing Mammalian Cells.
4.2B.5 Cell-Transformation Assays.
4.2B.6 Summary.
4.2.C Strategies for the Evaluation of Genotoxicity (Stephan Madle, Peter Kasper, Ulrike Pabel and Gunter Speit).
4.2C.1 Introduction.
4.2C.2 Basics of Genotoxicity Testing.
4.2C.3 Current Approaches for Assessing Genotoxicity.
4.2C.4 Summary.
4.3 Biomonitoring (Michael G. Bird).
4.4 Epidemiology (Kurt Ulm).
4.5 Omics in Toxicology (Laura Suter-Dick and Thomas Singer).
4.6 Introduction to the Statistical Analysis of Experimental Data (Gyorgy Csanady).

5 Risk Assessment.
5.1 Mathematical Models for Risk Extrapolation (Jurgen Timm).
5.2 Regulations Regarding Chemicals and Radionuclides in the Environment, Workplace, Consumer Products, Foods, and Pharmaceuticals (Dennis J. Paustenbach and Pearl Moy).

6 Toxicity of Selected Chemicals.
6.1 Persistent Polyhalogenated Aromatic Hydrocarbons (Kristian W. Fried and Karl K. Rozman).
6.2 Metals (Karl-Heinz Summer, Stefan Halbach, Herrmann Kappus and Helmut Greim).
6.3 Toxicology of Fibers and Particles (Paul J.A. Borm).
6.4 Xenoestrogens and Xenoantiandrogens (Gisela H. Degen and J. William Owens).
6.5 Toxicology of Solvents (Wolfgang Dekant and Marion W. Anders).
6.6 Noxious Gases (Ladislaus Szinicz).
6.7 Animal and Plant Toxins (Thomas Zilker).