Toxicants elimination, from biological systems

Biological systems possess a number of mechanisms for protection against toxic foreign compounds, some of which have already been mentioned. Thus, metabolic transformation to more polar metabolites, which are readily excreted, is one method of detoxication. For example, conjugation of paracetamol with glucuronic acid and sulfate facilitates elimination of the drug from the body and diverts the compound away from potentially toxic pathways (see chap. 7). Alternatively, a reactive metabolite may be converted into a stable metabolite. For example, reactive epoxides can be metabolized by epoxide hydrolase to stable dihydrodiols. 

The behavior of a substance in a biological system depends to a large extent upon whether the substance is hydrophilic (water-loving) or hydrophobic (water-hating). Some important toxic substances are hydrophobic, a characteristic that enables them to traverse cell membranes readily. Part of the detoxification process carried on by living organisms is to render such molecules hydrophilic, therefore water soluble and readily eliminated from the body. 

We snggest that the extracorporeal elimination of proteases from blood and decrease in the level of toxic and biologically active peptides stimnlate endogenous detoxification systems and improve functioning of the compensatory systems in the organism. 

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