Computational Model to Predict Drug Liver Toxicity

Researchers recently developed a new computational model of the human liver as a new tool to predict drug metabolism and toxicity. Using publically available human data on acetaminophen (Tylenol), they were able to create a virtual tool that can model the drug's action in the human body at variable times and locations. Not only does the tool simulate the drug uptake through the gut and blood flow through the liver, it also simulates the chemical reactions that would occur within the cells of the liver. This model revealed that people can have highly variable degrees of sensitivity to the toxicity of acetaminophen. The tool was created using open source software that can be freely reused to study other drugs and toxins. Computational tools like these can provide human-relevant results while greatly reducing the time, cost, and animals used for toxicology testing.

This is an overview of the multiscale computer model for drug metabolism. The images on the left show the three biological scales in the model: the whole-body level, the organ level, and the cellular level.