Drug Bioscreening
Drug bioscreening is the systematic study of substances to determine their
pharmacodynamics, that is, the effects of a drug on animals and humans and on
their tissues and organs; and the response to drugs by animals and humans and
their tissues and organs. The substances to be tested are exposed to a process
that determines those that have potential value as well as those that do not. Drug
bioscreening is a scanning procedure in living organisms such as animals
designed to distinguish useful from non-useful drugs as rapidly and inexpensively
as possible. Screening of drugs involves scanning and evaluation. It includes a
test (or a battery of tests) that allows the detection of pharmacological activity. A
test is followed by an evaluation through another test so that any uncertainty of
the scanning procedure is removed. A large number of screening tests enables
the investigator to learn about the substance from several points of view
simultaneously.
Concept and Scope of Drug Bioscreening
First Concept: Drugs may act similarly in animals and in human subjects and
laboratory animals can thus serve as model analogs of man. This concept is
tenuous since vast differences exist not only between humans and animals but
also among various animal species.
Second Concept: Drugs are more readily differentiated and classified from an
assessment of their diversity of activity and from the overall profile of their action
than from any single test of activity.
Drug bioscreening is the systematic study of substances to determine their
pharmacodynamics, that is, the effects of a drug on animals and humans and on
their tissues and organs; and the response to drugs by animals and humans and
their tissues and organs. The substances to be tested are exposed to a process
that determines those that have potential value as well as those that do not. Drug
bioscreening is a scanning procedure in living organisms such as animals
designed to distinguish useful from non-useful drugs as rapidly and inexpensively
as possible. Screening of drugs involves scanning and evaluation. It includes a
test (or a battery of tests) that allows the detection of pharmacological activity. A
test is followed by an evaluation through another test so that any uncertainty of
the scanning procedure is removed. A large number of screening tests enables
the investigator to learn about the substance from several points of view
simultaneously.
Concept and Scope of Drug Bioscreening
First Concept: Drugs may act similarly in animals and in human subjects and
laboratory animals can thus serve as model analogs of man. This concept is
tenuous since vast differences exist not only between humans and animals but
also among various animal species.
Second Concept: Drugs are more readily differentiated and classified from an
assessment of their diversity of activity and from the overall profile of their action
than from any single test of activity.
