TOXICOLOGY
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- MARIA CRISTINA TOMASINI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/14
Training objectives
- The main objective of the course consists in providing the basis to tackle the study of toxicology.
The main acquired knowledge will be:
- toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic concepts that
characterize the toxicity profile and mechanism of action of xenobiotics.
various types of toxic effects (acute and chronic) and parameters of assessment of such effects
- principles and methods of evaluation of teratogenicity, mutagenesis and carcinogenesis
- toxic effects of xenobiotics and drugs on the main target organs (liver, kidney, nervous system, lungs, blood)
- toxicological aspects of specific drugs of abuse
- toxic effects of specific categories of xenobiotics.
The basic acquired abilities (that are the capacity of applying the acquired knowledge) will be:
- recognize and characterize the adverse effects caused by exposure to a natural or synthetic chemical agent, integrating all the available scientific informations;
- use the toxicological studies carried out on experimental animal model or by alternative models for estimating the human risk of exposure to toxic (quantitative estimate of the risk).
- Use knowledge of the mechanisms of toxicity to identify specific antidotes and other therapeutic measures in case of poisoning by drugs and other xenobiotics. Prerequisites
- It is important to have acquired and assimilated the basic knowledge provided by the courses in anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology and pharmacognosy
Course programme
- The course forecasts 48 hours of teaching consisted in frontal lectures (6 CFU).
General Toxicology (18 hours)
Principles of Toxicokinetics. Absorption, distribution and excretion of toxicants. Biotransformation of toxicants: mechanisms and reactions of bioactivation and detoxification .
Principles of Toxicodynamics. Mechanisms of toxicity. Reactivity and function of target molecules. Alterations of the function of excitable membranes; alteration of ionic homeostasis; alteration of cellular energy production; ROS production and oxidative stress. Allergy (classification of hypersensitivity reactions). Antidotes. Mutagenesis, carcinogenesis.
Systemic Toxicology and experimental methods for evaluation of the toxicity (18 hours)
Experimental assessment of acute and chronic toxicity (LD50,MTD, NOEL, ADI).
Toxicity of haematologic system, respiratory system, epatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, teratogenesis
Special Toxicology (12 hours)
Toxicity induced by drugs, metals (As, Hg, Pb, Cd), fibrous materials (asbestos), pesticides (insecticides: organochlorides, organophosphates, carbamates, pyrethroids, biological pesticides). Drug addiction: heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, alcohol. Didactic methods
- The course is organized in theoretical lessons aimed at exposing and explaining the contents of the course's program.
Learning assessment procedures
- The aim of the exam is to verify at which level the learning objectives previously described have been acquired.
The oral exam has the aim of evaluating how deeply the student has studied all the course’s topics and how he is able to understand the topics tackled in the course.
In the oral exam will be done two questions about the program.
It will also be assessed the student's ability to link and compare different subjects related to the topics tackled in the course.
To pass this exam it is required to get at least 18/30. Reference texts
- 1) Specific topics can be studied in the following texts:
Casarett and Doull, “Elementi di Tossicologia”, Casa Editrice Ambrosiana, 2013
Galli, Corsini, Marinovich, "Tossicologia", Piccin, 2016
Balduini e Costa, "Tossicologia generale e applicata ai farmaci"
Edizioni Edra, 2015
