Novel In Vitro Model Detects Drug-Drug Interactions

Study in a Sentence:

Using a novel in vitro model that employs patient-derived cells to test drug-drug interactions, researchers identified combinations of medications that pose increased risk for patients diagnosed with idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (iDILI).

Healthy for Humans:

iDILI is a frequent cause of acute liver injury and is a serious concern in drug development and in patient populations with increased rates of co-medication use. Predicting and diagnosing iDILI is particularly challenging because its causes and clinical presentations are highly heterogeneous. In this model, patient-derived cells mimic donor characteristics, allowing researchers to simulate a patient’s individual response to drug interactions, which may ultimately improve patient safety.

Redefining Research:

The lack of a reliable human-based in vitro test for drug-drug interactions has hindered progress on improving the diagnosis of iDILI and developing safety biomarkers. This research demonstrates the ability of patient-derived in vitro tests to screen for drug-drug interactions causing increased toxicity associated with iDILI and advances our understanding of liver injury pathogenesis.