Assessment of drug-induced immunotoxicity in animal models

Importance and Relevance of Phytochemicals Present in Galenia africana

Many people in developing countries rely primarily on medicinal plants as their main source of healthcare, particularly for the treatment of skin infections. Despite the widespread use of medicinal plants, there is a lack of literature describing the relevance and risks of exposure of the phytochemicals present. Galenia africana has been used traditionally in the form of pastes, decoctions, and lotions to treat wounds and other skin-related ailments. This is a report on the phytochemical composition of G. africana and a review on the pharmacological importance and relevance of these phytochemicals. The major groups of phytochemicals identified in G. africana extracts were aliphatics, aliphatic triterpenoids, fatty acids, flavonoids, and phenolic and tocopherol compounds. These have been found to exhibit medicinal properties, thus highlighting the need to assess the safety of G. africana for topical application. The information related to the safety of the various compounds could indicate the potential risks related to accidental intake of the extract upon topical product applications. This report concludes that the quantities of the phytochemicals present in G. africana should not cause undue risk to human health, which provides comfort to pursue future work on using and developing G. africana as a therapeutic agent.

Humanized Mouse as a Tool to Predict Immunotoxicity of Human Biologics

Advancements in science enable researchers to constantly innovate and create novel biologics. However, the use of non-human animal models during the development of biologics impedes identification of precise in vivo interactions between the human immune system and treatments. Due to lack of this understanding, adverse effects are frequently observed in healthy volunteers and patients exposed to potential biologics during clinical trials. In this study, we evaluated and compared the effects of known immunotoxic biologics, Proleukin^®/IL-2 and OKT3 in humanized mice (reconstituted with human fetal cells) to published clinical outcomes. We demonstrated that humanized mice were able to recapitulate in vivo pathological changes and human-specific immune responses, such as elevated cytokine levels and modulated lymphocytes and myeloid subsets. Given the high similarities of immunological side effects observed between humanized mice and clinical studies, this model could be used to assess immunotoxicity of biologics at a pre-clinical stage, without placing research participants and/or patients at risk.