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Beilmann M, Boonen H, Czich A, Dear G, Hewitt P, Mow T, Newham P, Oinonen T, Pognan F, Roth A, Valentin JP, Van Goethem F, Weaver RJ, Birk B, Boyer S, Caloni F, Chen AE, Corvi R, Cronin MTD, Daneshian M, Ewart LC, Fitzgerald RE, Hamilton GA, Hartung T, Kangas JD, Kramer NI, Leist M, Marx U, Polak S, Rovida C, Testai E, Van der Water B, Vulto P, Steger-Hartmann T. Optimizing drug discovery by Investigative Toxicology: Current and future trends. ALTEX 2018; 36:289-313. [PMID: 30570669 DOI: 10.14573/altex.1808181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2018] [Accepted: 12/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Investigative Toxicology describes the de-risking and mechanistic elucidation of toxicities, supporting early safety decisions in the pharmaceutical industry. Recently, Investigative Toxicology has contributed to a shift in pharmaceutical toxicology, from a descriptive to an evidence-based, mechanistic discipline. This was triggered by high costs and low throughput of Good Laboratory Practice in vivo studies, and increasing demands for adhering to the 3R (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement) principles of animal welfare. Outside the boundaries of regulatory toxicology, Investigative Toxicology has the flexibility to embrace new technologies, enhancing translational steps from in silico, in vitro to in vivo mechanistic understanding to eventually predict human response. One major goal of Investigative Toxicology is improving preclinical decisions, which coincides with the concept of animal-free safety testing. Currently, compounds under preclinical development are being discarded due to the use of inappropriate animal models. Progress in Investigative Toxicology could lead to humanized in vitro test systems and the development of medicines less reliant on animal tests. To advance this field a group of 14 European-based leaders from the pharmaceutical industry founded the Investigative Toxicology Leaders Forum (ITLF), an open, non-exclusive and pre-competitive group that shares knowledge and experience. The ITLF collaborated with the Centre for Alternatives to Animal Testing Europe (CAAT-Europe) to organize an "Investigative Toxicology Think-Tank", which aimed to enhance the interaction with experts from academia and regulatory bodies in the field. Summarizing the topics and discussion of the workshop, this article highlights Investigative Toxicology's position by identifying key challenges and perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Beilmann
- Nonclinical Drug Safety, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, Biberach, Germany
| | | | | | - Gordon Dear
- Platform Technology & Science, David Jack Centre for R&D, GSK, Hertfordshire, UK
| | | | - Tomas Mow
- Global Discovery and Development Sciences, Novo Nordisk A/S, Maaloev, Denmark
| | - Peter Newham
- Drug Safety and Metabolism, Astra Zeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Teija Oinonen
- Investigative Toxicology and ADME, Orion Pharma, Espoo, Finland
| | | | - Adrian Roth
- Pharma Research and Early Development, Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Freddy Van Goethem
- Mechanistic & Investigative Toxicology, Discovery Sciences, Janssen Research & Development, Beerse, Belgium
| | | | - Barbara Birk
- Experimental Toxicology and Ecology, BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany
| | - Scott Boyer
- Computational Toxicology, Swedish Toxicological Sciences Research Center, Södertäljje, Sweden
| | - Francesca Caloni
- Department of Veterinary Medicine (DIMEVET), Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Raffaella Corvi
- EURL-ECVAM, Joint Research Center, European Commission, Ispra (VA), Italy
| | - Mark T D Cronin
- School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, England
| | - Mardas Daneshian
- Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT)-Europe, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Lorna C Ewart
- Drug Safety and Metabolism, Astra Zeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Rex E Fitzgerald
- Swiss Centre for Applied Human Toxicology, SCAHT / University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | | | - Thomas Hartung
- Johns Hopkins University, CAAT, Baltimore, MD, USA.,Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT)-Europe, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Joshua D Kangas
- Computational Biology Department, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Nynke I Kramer
- Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Marcel Leist
- Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT)-Europe, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Sebastian Polak
- Certara UK (Simcyp), Sheffield, United Kingdom.,Jagiellonian University Medical College, Kraków, Poland
| | - Costanza Rovida
- Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT)-Europe, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | | | - Bob Van der Water
- Division of Drug Discovery and Safety, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR), Leiden University, RA Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Thomas Steger-Hartmann
- Research & Development, Pharmaceuticals, Investigational Toxicology, Bayer AG, Berlin, Germany
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Abstract
Choice behavior of rats in a radially symmetrical 6-arm maze, without food reward, was validated for assessing changes in learning and memory following treatment with 4 psychoactive agents. The test is designed for future use in routine toxicity studies with laboratory rodents. Each radial main arm of the maze leads to a T-shaped choice-point with a blind alley on the left and a long angled alley on the right. Order of choice of the radial main arms served to score within-session working memory, by evaluating relative recency of arm reentries. The choice between blind alley and long-angled alley at the T-intersections provided a measure of between-session reference memory. Maze behavior as an indicator for impairment in learning and memory was validated by testing rats treated with d-amphetamine, chlorpromazine, scopolamine and physostigmine. Based on the above evaluations, working memory was found to be severely impaired by 0.3 and 1.0 mg/kg scopolamine, and reference memory to be improved by 0.02 mg/kg physostigmine and 1.0 mg/kg amphetamine. Locomotor activity, in terms of the total number of arm choices per test session, was altered by all substances as expected from previous reports in the literature. The test appears to be a valid and sensitive method for assessing learning and memory in the rat without the use of food reward, and thus well suited for implementation in routine toxicity studies with rodents.
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Fitzgerald RE, Oettinger R. Automated recording of rat activity in a 6-arm radial maze for routine evaluation of behaviour in subchronic toxicity studies. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg B Umwelthyg Krankenhaushyg Arbeitshyg Prav Med 1987; 185:52-4. [PMID: 3124388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Using the 6-arm radial maze constructed by Bättig et al. and FitzGerald at el., the spatial locomotor activity of rats can be characterized during five-minute-sessions. Due to the complexity of the maze the rats keep patrolling the gangways without being rewarded for it. The optimal behaviour is reached by visiting all six arms successively until a visit is repeated. Hippocampal lesioned rats, with the according behavioural disturbances, show more reenterings than the control animals. Each arm of the maze is provided with a short blind alley and a long main gangway. After several trials, blind alley entries reach a low and stable level: the rat enters the main arm rather than the blind alley. The decision of entering the main alley depends on the "reference memory", of entering the alleys in the proper sequence, depends on the "working memory". Thus, correlates of long- and short-term memory can be studied. Rats learn to achieve the proper maze behaviour during five successive daily sessions each of a five minute term. By then they have reached a stable behaviour. The monitoring by photobeams of the rat-behaviour is reconstructed by a microprocessor and automatically evaluated.
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Affiliation(s)
- R E Fitzgerald
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Dept. of Behavioral Sciences, Zürich, Switzerland
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