Identification and Categorization of Liver Toxicity Markers Induced by a Related Pair of Drugs

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Ching-Wei Chang¹  Frederick A. Beland⁴  Wade M. Hines³  James C. Fuscoe²  Tao Han² 

[1] Division of Personalized Nutrition and Medicine, National Center for Toxicological Research, FDA, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA; E-Mail:;Division of Systems Biology, National Center for Toxicological Research, FDA, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA; E-Mails:;BG Medicine, Inc. Waltham, MA 02451, USA; E-Mail:;Division of Biochemical Toxicology, National Center for Toxicological Research, FDA, Jefferson, AR 72079, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: liver toxicity;    biomarker;    genomic;    personalized medicine;    population heterogeneity;    entacapone;    tolcapone;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms12074609

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is the primary adverse event that results in the withdrawal of drugs from the market and a frequent reason for the failure of drug candidates in the pre-clinical or clinical phases of drug development. This paper presents an approach for identifying potential liver toxicity genomic biomarkers from a liver toxicity biomarker study involving the paired compounds entacapone (“non-liver toxic drug”) and tolcapone (“hepatotoxic drug”). Molecular analysis of the rat liver and plasma samples, combined with statistical analysis, revealed many similarities and differences between the in vivo biochemical effects of the two drugs. Six hundred and ninety-five genes and 61 pathways were selected based on the classification scheme. Of the 61 pathways, 5 were specific to treatment with tolcapone. Two of the 12 animals in the tolcapone group were found to have high ALT, AST, or TBIL levels. The gene Vars2 (valyl-tRNA synthetase 2) was identified in both animals and the pathway to which it belongs, the aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis pathway, was one of the three most significant tolcapone-specific pathways identified.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.