Toxicological evaluation of brominated vegetable oil in Sprague Dawley rats.

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on an interim basis as a food additive. Past studies have raised concerns about potential toxicities from consuming BVO. To investigate further these toxicities, we conducted a 90-day dietary exposure study in Sprague Dawley rats and analyzed tissue distribution of the main metabolites.

Pharmacokinetics of oseltamivir phosphate and oseltamivir carboxylate in non-pregnant and pregnant rhesus monkeys.

Oseltamivir is an antiviral drug approved to treat influenza in humans. Although the dosing regimen of this drug is well established for non-pregnant patients, it is not clear if the significant physiological alterations associated with pregnancy affect the pharmacokinetics of oseltamivir and, thus, warrant different dosing regimens to assure efficacy. In this study, we investigated the suitability of rhesus macaques as an animal model for studying oseltamivir pharmacokinetics during all trimesters of pregnancy in comparison to pre-pregnant conditions.

Use of a physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model to explore the potential disparity in nicotine disposition between adult and adolescent nonhuman primates.

The widespread use and high abuse liability of tobacco products has received considerable public health attention, in particular for youth, who are vulnerable to nicotine addiction. In this study, adult and adolescent squirrel monkeys were used to evaluate age-related metabolism and pharmacokinetics of nicotine after intravenous administration. A physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model was created to characterize the pharmacokinetic behaviors of nicotine and its metabolites, cotinine, trans-3'-hydroxycotinine (3'-OH cotinine), and trans-3'-hydroxycotinine glucuronide (3'-OH cotinine glucuronide) for both adult and adolescent squirrel monkeys.

Developmental neurotoxicity of inorganic arsenic exposure in Sprague-Dawley rats.

High levels of inorganic arsenic (iAs) exposure are associated with severe health effects. Less clear are effects of lower exposure levels on neurodevelopment. Relative to maternal intake, there is limited lactational transfer of arsenic in humans or rodents, yet there are few rodent studies which directly exposed preweaning animals.

Effects of human sulfotransferases on the cytotoxicity of 12-hydroxynevirapine.

Nevirapine, a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor used for the treatment of AIDS, can cause serious skin rashes and hepatotoxicity. Previous studies have indicated that the benzylic sulfate 12-sulfoxynevirapine, the formation of which is catalyzed by human sulfotransferases (SULTs), may play a causative role in these toxicities. To characterize better the role of 12-sulfoxynevirapine in nevirapine-induced cytotoxicity, the ability of 12 expressed human SULT isoforms to conjugate 12-hydroxynevirapine was assessed.