Overview of the "epigenetic end points in toxicologic pathology and relevance to human health" session of the 2014 Society Of Toxicologic Pathology Annual Symposium

Toxicol Pathol. 2015 Jan;43(1):98-100. doi: 10.1177/0192623314553475. Epub 2014 Oct 20.

Abstract

The theme of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology 2014 Annual Symposium was "Translational Pathology: Relevance of Toxicologic Pathology to Human Health." The 5th session focused on epigenetic end points in biology, toxicity, and carcinogenicity, and how those end points are relevant to human exposures. This overview highlights the various presentations in this session, discussing integration of epigenetics end points in toxicologic pathology studies, investigating the role of epigenetics in product safety assessment, epigenetic changes in cancers, methodologies to detect them, and potential therapies, chromatin remodeling in development and disease, and epigenomics and the microbiome. The purpose of this overview is to discuss the application of epigenetics to toxicologic pathology and its utility in preclinical or mechanistic based safety, efficacy, and carcinogenicity studies.

Keywords: carcinogenesis; epigenetics; histone deacetylation; histone modification; methylation; microbiome.; no adverse effect level; safety assessment; toxicology.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chromatin Assembly and Disassembly
  • DNA Methylation
  • Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions
  • Endpoint Determination
  • Epigenesis, Genetic*
  • Epigenomics / methods*
  • Humans
  • Pathology / methods*
  • Patient Safety
  • Toxicology / methods*