The nephrotoxicity of candidate drugs will be tested in vitro
New Drug Testing System to Replace Animal Experiments
Medical news based on the materials of MedicalNewsToday: New drug screening tool reduces need for animal testing
Singapore scientists have proposed a new way of screening drugs. The method does not involve the use of experimental animals and can become a simpler and more affordable alternative.
Usually, the testing of drugs and the toxic effects caused by them is carried out on the kidneys of laboratory animals. Daniele Zink and her colleagues from the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) were able to develop a new screening method using human induced pluripotent stem cells. The process of growing kidney cells from them, suitable for testing, takes 8 days.
It is known that at first scientists planned to use human embryonic stem cells to create a test system, but they abandoned this idea due to difficulties and ethical issues related to obtaining and using such cells.
The new test system allows you to identify possible side effects associated with taking drugs without conducting experiments on animals. Speaking about the advantages of their development, scientists note that the new technique makes it possible to detect the adverse effects of the drug at much earlier stages than animal testing. The method can also be used to develop personalized methods of treatment, tailored to the characteristics of the patient and his disease. The system is also capable of self-learning, which makes screening more accurate.
Scientists hope that their development will replace expensive and lengthy experiments on animals, significantly simplifying the process of screening medicines.
Cells of the proximal renal tubules (nuclei are colored blue, cytoplasm – red) obtained from IPSC. On the left – healthy cells, on the right – treated with a deliberately nephrotoxic substance, aristolochiic acid. Scale ruler = 25 microns. A snapshot from the press release of IBN Singapore Researchers Develop First Animal-Free Screening Platforms To Predict Toxic Kidney Injury - VM.
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20.10.2015