Role of model organisms and nanocompounds in human health risk assessment

Author(s)

Lopes, Andre Moreni ^[1] ; Dahms, Hans-Uwe ^{[2, 3, 4]} ; Converti, Attilio ^[5] ; Mariottini, Gian Luigi ^[6]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Fac Pharmaceut Sci, UNICAMP, Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Kaohsiung Med Univ, Dept Biomed Sci & Environm Biol, 100 Shin Chuan 1st Rd, Kaohsiung 80708 - Taiwan

^[3] Natl Sun Yat Sen Univ, Dept Marine Biotechnol & Resources, Kaohsiung 80424 - Taiwan

^[4] Kaohsiung Med Univ, Res Ctr Environm Med, Kaohsiung 80708 - Taiwan

^[5] Univ Genoa, Dept Civil Chem & Environm Engn, I-16145 Genoa - Italy

^[6] Univ Genoa, Dept Earth Environm & Life Sci, I-16132 Genoa - Italy

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT; v. 193, n. 5 MAY 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Safeguarding the environment is one of the most serious modern challenges, as increasing amounts of chemical compounds are produced and released into the environment, causing a serious threat to the future health of the Earth as well as organisms and humans on a global scale. Ecotoxicology is an integrative science involving different physical, chemical, biological, and social aspects concerned with the study of toxic effects caused by natural or synthetic pollutants on any constituents of ecosystems, including animals (including humans), plants, or microorganisms, in an integral context. In recent decades, this science has undergone considerable development by addressing environmental risk assessments through the biomonitoring of indicator species using biomarkers, model organisms, and nanocompounds in toxicological assays. Since a single taxon cannot be representative of complex ecotoxicological effects and mechanisms of action of a chemical, the use of test batteries is widely accepted in ecotoxicology. Test batteries include properly chosen organisms that are easy to breed, adapt easily to laboratory conditions, and are representative of the environmental compartment under consideration. One of the main issues of toxicological and ecotoxicological research is to gain a deeper understanding of how data should be obtained through laboratory and field approaches using experimental models and how they could be extrapolated to humans. There is a tendency to replace animal tests with in vitro systems and to perform them according to standardized analytical methods and the rules of the so-called good laboratory practice (GLP). This paper aims to review this topic to stimulate both efforts to understand the toxicological and ecotoxicological properties of natural and synthetic chemicals and the possible use of such data for application to humans. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/10799-0 - Combinatorial therapy using polymersomes decorated with transferrin and incorporated into chitosan hydrogels as smart drug delivery systems for melanoma tumor cells
• Grantee: André Moreni Lopes
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Young Researchers
• FAPESP's process: 17/10789-1 - Combinatorial therapy using polymersomes decorated with transferrin and incorporated into chitosan hydrogels as smart drug delivery systems for melanoma tumor cells
• Grantee: André Moreni Lopes
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants