TOXICOLOGY
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- FABRIZIO VINCENZI
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Secondo Semestre
- SSD
- BIO/14
Training objectives
- The course aims to achieve the following training objectives: i) to provide the basis for understanding the toxic effects of chemical substances of both natural and anthropogenic origin; ii) to know the risks associated with exposure to potentially harmful substances; iii) to provide students with the necessary tools to deal with toxicological issues in different application fields.
At the end of the course, the student will obtain knowledge of the interaction between chemical substances and biological systems by understanding the biochemical, cellular, and molecular phenomena that underlie the toxicity of xenobiotics in relation to their chemical-physical properties.
The student will acquire the ability to understand and critically analyze the problems related to the use and sources of exposure of the most relevant chemical substances in relation to their possible harmful effects on human health and the environment. Prerequisites
- Good knowledge of general and inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry.
Course programme
- The course includes 36 hours of lectures covering the following topics:
1) General toxicology (18 hours): general concepts useful for understanding the toxic effects of xenobiotics.
In particular, this first part of the course involves the discussion of the following topics:
- General principles of toxicology: definitions and objectives of toxicology; characteristics of exposure to toxic substances; dose-response relationship; chemical-physical properties of toxic substances.
- Toxicokinetics: absorption, distribution, biotransformation and excretion of toxic substances in relation to their chemical-physical properties.
- Toxicodynamics: general mechanisms of action of toxic substances; interaction of xenobiotics with biological macromolecules (proteins, lipids and nucleic acids); neurotransmission and molecular mechanisms of neurotoxicity; mechanisms of cell injury and death; defense and repair mechanisms of the body.
- Chemical carcinogenesis: genotoxic and epigenetic chemical carcinogens; stages of carcinogenesis (initiation, promotion and progression); role of mutations, apoptosis and proliferation in carcinogenesis process; oncogenes and tumor suppressors; examples of carcinogenic chemicals.
- Teratogenesis: general principles of chemical teratogenesis; examples of teratogenic agents.
2) Special toxicology (18 hours): the main classes of toxic substances of anthropic and natural origin will be presented. For each class of xenobiotics, the chemical-physical characteristics, uses and sources of exposure, toxicokinetic properties, toxicodynamic properties and toxicity manifestations will be described.
The main classes of xenobiotics of toxicological interest that will be addressed during the course are the following:
- Pesticides
- Metals and metalloids
- Inorganic compounds
- Hydrocarbons
- Oxygenated organic compounds
- Organic nitrogen compounds
- Halogenated organic compounds Didactic methods
- Recorded lectures on all the topics of the course using Power Point slides will be available on “Google classroom”.
Learning assessment procedures
- The purpose of the examination is to verify the level of achievement of the previously indicated training objectives. In particular, the test will contain a series of questions aimed at ascertaining the level of knowledge reached by the student both on the concepts of general toxicology, applicable therefore to each class of potentially dangerous chemical substances, as well as on the individual classes of chemicals of toxicological interest addressed during the course.
The examination is structured as a written test consisting of 31 multiple-choice questions (for each question, there are four possible answers, of which only one is correct). One point will be given for each correct answer. The minimum score to pass the exam is 18. Reference texts
- Material provided by the teacher.
Specific topics can be deepened in the following texts:
Marzano - Medana. Chimica Tossicologica (2018) Piccin.
Casarett & Doull. Elementi di tossicologia di John B. III Watkins, Curtis D. Klaassen (2013) CEA
Casarett & Doull. Tossicologia. I fondamenti dell’azione delle sostanze tossiche (2010) EMSI
Galli - Corsini - Marinovich - Tossicologia (2016) Piccin
