Mission Accomplished: The ACVP/STP Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows Completes Its Objectives, but Its Legacy and Spirit Live On.

After 15 years of existence, the ACVP/STP Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows will dissolve, primarily due to lack of renewed financial sponsorship. While in operation, the Coalition organized 32 new training position for veterinary pathologists, supported by $7.4 M from sponsors, including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, contract research organizations, private individuals and allied veterinary pathology support groups.

The ACVP/STP Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows Celebrates 32 New Training Positions.

Since its creation in 2004, the Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows, a partnership between the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and the Society of Toxicologic Pathology, has established 32 new training positions backed by US$7.4 million in financial support from private sponsors.

Career advancement opportunities and the ACVP/STP Coalition.

A new service to facilitate career advancement opportunities has been implemented by the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP)/Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) Coalition for Veterinary Pathology Fellows. This service will allow rapid communication of these opportunities between veterinary pathologists in academia, industry, and government, and will be useful to trainees as well as established pathologists.

Metabonomic evaluation of idiosyncrasy-like liver injury in rats cotreated with ranitidine and lipopolysaccharide.

Idiosyncratic liver injury occurs in a small fraction of people on certain drug regimens. The cause of idiosyncratic hepatotoxicity is not known; however, it has been proposed that environmental factors such as concurrent inflammation initiated by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) increase an individual's susceptibility to drug toxicity. Ranitidine (RAN), a histamine-2 receptor antagonist, causes idiosyncratic liver injury in humans.

The value of DNA methylation analysis in basic, initial toxicity assessments.

DNA methylation is an epigenetic mechanism regulating patterns of gene expression. Our goal was to see if the assessment of DNA methylation might be a useful tool, when used in conjunction with initial, basic in vitro tests, to provide a more informative preliminary appraisal of the toxic potential of chemicals to prioritize them for further evaluation. We sought to give better indications of a compound's toxic potential and its possible mechanism of action at an earlier time and, thereby, contribute to a rational approach of an overall reduction in testing by making improved early decisions.

Application of high-throughput Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy in toxicology studies: contribution to a study on the development of an animal model for idiosyncratic toxicity.

An evaluation of high-throughput Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) as a technology that could support a "metabonomics" component in toxicological studies of drug candidates is presented. The hypothesis tested in this study was that FT-IR had sufficient resolving power to discriminate between urine collected from control rat populations and rats subjected to treatment with a potent inflammatory agent, bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). It was also hypothesized that co-administration of LPS with ranitidine, a drug associated with reports of idiosyncratic susceptibility, would induce hepatotoxicity in rats and that this could be detected non-invasively by an FT-IR-based metabonomics approach.

Ranitidine treatment during a modest inflammatory response precipitates idiosyncrasy-like liver injury in rats.

Drug idiosyncrasy is an adverse event of unknown etiology that occurs in a small fraction of people taking a drug. Some idiosyncratic drug reactions may occur from episodic decreases in the threshold for drug hepatotoxicity. Previous studies in rats have shown that modest underlying inflammation triggered by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) can decrease the threshold for xenobiotic hepatotoxicity.

Strategic importance of research support through pathology.

The pace at which new drug candidates are being identified by Discovery Research demands that they be screened for preclinical attributes rapidly and efficiently. The early identification and elimination of compounds with toxic liabilities will produce safer drugs in a shorter time period, and with an increased rate of success. Most major pharmaceutical companies now recognize the strategic role of pathology support for research and have developed specific units to effect this outcome.