Abstract
Toxicology has advanced a long way since Paracelsus determined that experimentation is essential in the examination of responses to chemicals. Driven by advances in technology and the pursuit of the 3R's, specialised investigative techniques are no longer the domain of the scientist in a fundamental research laboratory. They now form part of many Regulatory Toxicology studies.During the 1980's Regulatory Toxicology studies were very standard regardless of the compound being tested. The investigative nature of the studies extended only to effects on body weight, food consumption, clinical observations and histopathology. Twenty years later a 'standard' study has seen at least the addition of ECG and Blood Pressure recordings, extensive plasma profiling of the drugs absorption and excretion, determination of P450 enzyme activities and advanced histopathological examination.In addition, an increasing number of studies are seeing the introduction of specialised and highly targeted dosing techniques, non-invasive but highly informative techniques such as Echocardiography and the more in-depth analysis of blood or urine for the determination of cell subsets or biomarkers.This poster will examine some of these new techniques and the contribution they are making to advancing the knowledge of Toxicologists and determining the safety of chemicals.
