Toxicity Assessment in Animal Models
Summary
Animal models remain indispensable for evaluating the safety profile of novel chemicals, pharmaceuticals and environmental agents before clinical or commercial use. These studies typically encompass acute, sub-chronic and chronic exposures in rodents or other species, integrating behavioural, clinical and pathological endpoints to characterise systemic, organ-specific and genetic damage. Key parameters include determination of lethal dose thresholds (LD50), identification of no-observed-adverse-effect levels (NOAEL) and lowest-observed-adverse-effect levels (LOAEL). Modern approaches increasingly combine traditional histopathology with molecular assays—such as the comet assay for DNA strand breaks and high-throughput omics—to refine detection of subtle toxic responses. Ethical considerations and regulatory frameworks drive the adoption of study designs that minimise animal use while maximising data quality. Globally, such assessments underpin regulatory decisions for drug approval, industrial chemical management and environmental risk evaluation, with growing emphasis on translational validity, interspecies scaling and replacement strategies including in vitro and in silico models.
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Toxicity Assessment in Animal Models publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in toxicity assessment in animal models across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
LD50: The dose at which 50% of test animals die following exposure.
NOAEL: The highest dose at which no adverse effects are observed.
LOAEL: The lowest dose at which adverse effects become evident.
Genotoxicity: The capacity of a substance to damage genetic information in cells.
Comet assay: A technique using single-cell gel electrophoresis to detect DNA strand breaks.
References
- General toxicity and genotoxicity studies of a new scale inhibitor for seawater desalination. Environmental Sciences Europe (2023).
- The Toxicological and Pharmacological Evaluation of the Anacyclus pyrethrum Aqueous Extract: Implications for Medicinal and Therapeutic Applications. Stresses (2024).
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