Blood products toxicity studies

Clinical trials, also known as clinical studies, test potential treatments in human volunteers to see whether they should be approved for wider use in the general population. A treatment could be a drug, medical device, or biologic, such as a vaccine, blood product, or gene therapy. Potential treatments, however, must be studied in laboratory animals first to determine potential toxicity before they can be tried in people. Treatments having acceptable safety profiles and showing the most promise are then moved into clinical trials. 

A number of clinical tests are available to detect kidney damage. The clinician examining a patient or the toxicologist monitoring an animal toxicity study collects urine and blood samples. Indications of kidney damage (which, of course, for the human patient could be related to many factors other then chemical toxicity) include urinary excretion of excessive amounts of proteins and glucose and excessive levels in the blood of unexcreted waste products such as urea and creatine. A number of additional kidney function tests are available to help pin down the location of kidney dysfunction. 

For some important insect pests there are still no satisfactory chemical controls. Such problems should be given due consideration in the development program. Many of these problems appeared to be solved with the discovery of DDT, benzene hexachlo-ride (hexachlorocyclohexane), and some of the more recent insecticides. Further studies of the toxicity of some of these products to warm-blooded animals have raised the important question of the advisability of continuing their use where food and feed products are concerned. Considerable attention is being centered on finding safer analogs, such as TDE and methoxychlor, and new and better insecticides. 

Recent studies with BN 52021 have demonstrated that PAF can modulate various immune processes. BN 52021 can inhibit the suppressive effect of PAF on T-lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production. When PAF is added to human peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures (containing 5-10% monocytes) stimulated with phytohaemaglutinin (PHA) or concanavalin A (Con A), a non-toxic concentration-dependent inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation is... 

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