Toxicology

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Chapter 7 Toxicology

The field of toxicology is a broad-based multidisciplinary science that examines the harmful effects of substances on living organisms, including humans. There are several major subdivisions of toxicology.

This chapter focuses primarily on the concepts of medical toxicology. These concepts are similar in many respects, at least in principle, to those of pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. This is not surprising, because any substance can be toxic under the appropriate conditions. Indeed, Paracelsus, an early toxicologist, stated, “All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous.” In fact, even water in excess can exert toxic effects (water intoxication) by disrupting electrolyte balance. Thus toxicity may be associated with therapeutic agents and nontherapeutic agents alike.

General Principles

General Mechanisms of Toxicity

Toxicity can be caused by both therapeutic and nontherapeutic substances. In terms of therapeutic drugs, toxicity may arise from a direct extension of the drug’s primary action. For example, central nervous system (CNS) depression or coma may occur with excessive doses of barbiturates used in the treatment of epilepsy. The toxic effect may also be unrelated to the primary therapeutic effect but related to the general pharmacology of the drug (nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents may increase edema in heart failure patients). The toxic effect may also have no relationship to the therapeutic action of the drug (ototoxicity induced by aminoglycoside antibiotics).

Detailed discussion of the mechanisms of toxicity is beyond the scope of this text. Nevertheless, it is useful to identify several general mechanisms by which toxic effects occur. These mechanisms can be classified as follows:

Target Organs

Toxicity may be systemic, affecting the whole body, or it may be largely confined to select target organs, the so-called toxic effect organs. Some organs, such as the liver, brain, lungs, heart, and kidney, play a central role in poisonings (Figure 7-1). When toxicity is site specific, the word toxic is preceded by an indication of the specific target organ. Thus, hepatotoxicity refers to effects on the liver, nephrotoxicity refers to effects on the kidney, ototoxicity refers to effects on the auditory system, and so on. A number of factors interact to determine the susceptibility of organs to toxic effects. These include the organ’s anatomic location, blood flow, metabolic processes and activity, affinity for the toxicant, and capacity for self-repair. Major toxic effect organs include the following:

Risk Assessment

Poisoning remains a significant public health issue that affects up to approximately 5% of the population per year in industrialized countries. Many countries have established national poison control centers that can serve as valuable sources of information. The World Health Organization maintains a directory of these centers (see Websites).

Because virtually all substances are potentially toxic, key questions in toxicology are how much risk is associated with a particular substance and under what conditions does this risk become apparent? In addition, the level of acceptable risk will vary. In some circumstances, very toxic substances (e.g., anticancer drugs) are used therapeutically despite their known toxic effects because the benefits of such treatments outweigh the risks. Accordingly, risk assessment is a primary consideration in the management of toxic events (Figure 7-2).

Key factors contributing to risk assessment include the following:

image Exposure assessment. Exposure assessment is a key process in determining the urgency and strategy for treatment of toxic events. Exposure assessment includes estimation of the following:

General Strategies for Management of Toxic Events

In some cases of poisonings, there are specific treatments or antidotes available that prevent, interrupt, or reverse the toxicity. In such cases, hazard identification and knowledge of the toxicodynamics of the toxicant are critically important for selection of the appropriate antidote or treatment. Antidotes or specific treatments may act via a number of mechanisms including the following:

In addition to specific treatments, a number of generalized treatment strategies can be used in poisonings (Figure 7-3). These are toxicokinetic treatment strategies targeted at reducing or preventing the absorption of the toxicant, at reducing the distribution of the toxicant, at manipulating biotransformation to reduce formation of the toxicant, or at hastening excretion of the toxicant. These approaches rely heavily on the concepts of pharmacokinetics presented earlier, which will not be repeated here. These generalized approaches are very useful in situations in which there are no specific antidotes or the causative toxicant(s) and/or modes of action are not sufficiently well defined to allow application of a specific antidote.

Reduction or Prevention of Absorption

Because the majority of poisonings occur via ingestion, approaches to limit absorption via this route will be discussed here. Approaches to limit absorption via other routes are generally common sense approaches. For example, moving the patient to fresh air if the exposure route was inhalational or flushing the skin with water in the case of dermal exposure. Several options are available to reduce oral absorption of toxicant. Collectively, these approaches are sometimes referred to as gastrointestinal (GI) decontamination.

In the past, the use of ipecac to induce forced emesis was promoted for GI decontamination in both hospital and home settings. Recommendations from a number of poison control organizations now indicate a much more conservative use of ipecac because of the potential for harm and the relative lack of evidence for definitive benefits. Available data suggest that ipecac may be of use in the following situations:

Activated Charcoal

Activation of charcoal by oxidization increases its adsorptive surface area. The large surface area of charcoal is capable of adsorbing many toxicants, thus sequestering them in the gut. Because only free molecules are able to diffuse across membranes, reduction of the concentration of free toxicant in the gut by charcoal greatly reduces absorption into the bloodstream (Figure 7-4). This treatment is administered as a slurry of the activated charcoal powder.

Available data suggest that activated charcoal is effective at reducing the absorption of many toxicants. This treatment may be administered as single-dose activated charcoal (SDAC) or repeated as multiple-dose activated charcoal (MDAC). However, the efficacy of SDAC charcoal at preventing drug absorption is very time dependent and decreases rapidly with time from ingestion. SDAC is most effective if administered within 60 minutes of toxicant ingestion. MDAC is most frequently used in cases of poisoning with controlled-release substances, with the goal of binding toxicant as it is released from its formulation. In addition, MDAC also may be of benefit in increasing the elimination of toxicants. Current recommendations suggest that activated charcoal should be used in the following situations:

Whole Bowel Irrigation and Cathartics

Whole bowel irrigation and cathartics are used to prevent the absorption of toxicants by increasing GI motility and passage of the GI contents, thereby reducing the time available for drug absorption. Cathartics use osmotic substances to draw fluid into the gut and produce diarrhea. The most commonly used cathartic is sorbitol. Available recommendations currently discourage the use of cathartics as sole therapy for poisonings because of the associated dehydration and electrolyte disturbances. Accordingly, cathartics will not be discussed further.

Whole bowel irrigation (also called whole gut lavage) is an evolution of the cathartic concept. This approach combines oral administration of high–molecular-weight substances, generally polyethylene glycol, with iso-osmolar electrolyte solutions (e.g., Golytely). This combination tends to prevent systemic electrolyte disturbances that complicate the use of cathartics alone. Large volumes of these solutions plus water are administered orally or by gastric tube.

Whole bowel irrigation has been shown to decrease the bioavailability of certain toxicants. Although there are no consensus statements regarding specific indications for whole bowel irrigation, this approach may be best suited for intoxications for which the other methods of GI decontamination may not be appropriate. More specifically, whole bowel irrigation may be particularly useful in cases where there has been a long time lag between ingestion and treatment and in cases in which toxicants are released slowly. Current recommendations