Abstract
This new ESTP CD-ROM, which was released during the 3rd European Congress of Toxicologic Pathology in Copenhagen on September 29, 2005, presents the essence of a series of seminars in toxicologic pathology held annually since 1994 at the School of Veterinary Medicine Hanover, Hanover, Germany, under the auspices of the ESTP. The objective of these seminars is to improve the knowledge of effects in laboratory animals induced by a large variety of compounds, mainly pharmaceuticals, but also environmental chemicals. The information provided in more than 50 different manuscripts on this CD-ROM includes histopathology, pathogenesis and mechanisms, the relevance to humans, literature references (most of them linked to the abstracts in PubMed) and high resolution images of histopathological lesions, all of which are a valuable source for everyone working in the field of hazard identification and risk assessment. An internationally recognized team of scientists has provided the expertise to make this CD-ROM possible. The manuscripts including their histopathologic images do not claim to cover the whole range of the respective toxicological profiles, but concentrate rather on specific important aspects and reflect the expertise of the authors.
Because of the confidential nature of the work, the chemical names of several of the compounds cannot be listed but are listed by compound class. The authors are to be commended for making available information that is otherwise considered proprietary and not generally available. The compounds presented include a wide variety of drug classes as well as environmental toxins. The Table of Contents (arranged by 11 compound classes), a contributors’ list, and a powerful search mechanism allow the user to easily find information of interest.
The CD-ROM runs like a web page with a well-structured simple layout, making it very user-friendly. The creators of this CD did a wonderful job in making navigation easy. Users have the option to move around as they wish, rather than being forced through consecutive pages. The Start Page explains the multiple ways of browsing through the CD-ROM, as well as links to other related sites. The always-present menu to the left, even as the page scrolls, is an excellent utility, making selection quick. The expandable feature of the “Table of Contents” and the “Contributors” within this menu adds even more ease, with the quick links by compound class and alphabetical names, respectively. Also, once a manuscript is selected, an additional menu appears with quick links to the subsections within that document. All the subsections for each manuscript appear to follow a fairly standard format (Indication, Material, Side Effects, Mechanism, Relevance, References, and Images).
The “Search for…” option is another well-designed feature. Unlike some search options where the user is expected to type in some small piece of information into empty text fields, this one offers several subcategories (compound class, author, keyword, species, or organ), each with its own drop-down list of items specific to this program, eliminating any guess work (and frustration) from finding a desired manuscript. No typing random information with only a hope of an accurate return. At the beginning of each manuscript is a list of keywords pertinent to that paper. This is a nice detail, especially in conjunction with the “Search for… “ option mentioned above.
The Table of Contents is straightforward, with arrangement by the type of compound along with the contributors. Simply select a compound class and the corresponding manuscript appears. The references section of each manuscript has quick links to the associated publication, most seem to be from PubMed. This is a nice feature because it reduces the amount of searching for the source of the publication.
Each manuscript has a number of images of histopathological lesions relevant to that compound, accompanied by a brief description. Each photograph of a lesion is a high resolution image (apparently 300 dpi). Although this makes no difference when viewing on a computer monitor, this feature will be beneficial if the user would like to print it. Fairly clear thumbnails launch the larger image in another browser, that comes with its own navigation arrows that will cycle through all the associated lesions without having to return to the manuscript page each time to click another thumbnail (although this is still possible with the incorporation of an additional arrow button that quickly returns the user to the browser that contains the manuscript). This is yet another well-designed aspect intended to make navigation quick and easy.
The ESTP should be commended for the accumulation of such valuable information in one location. The manuscripts include a wide variety of compound classes including hormones or compounds affecting hormones, anti-cancer drugs, antibiotics, cardiovascular drugs, compounds affecting the kidney, compounds affecting the CNS, antiphlogistics/analgetics, compounds with immune-related activities, compounds with local intolerability, environmental toxins, and several miscellaneous compounds with specific class effects such as perioxisome proliferators or iron chelators. Each manuscript provides a brief discussion of the indication of use, mechanism of action, and chemical structure of the representative compounds in the class. The materials and methods section describes the relevant studies related to the manuscript and is followed by a discussion of the pharmacological and side effects with specific reference to the relevant histopathologic lesions. Each manuscript concludes with a brief discussion of the human relevance of the changes described followed by a list of related references.
This CD-ROM of Classical Examples in Toxicologic Pathology is recommended to both toxicologic pathologists in training as well as experienced toxicologic pathologists who may have the need to review the lesions observed in experimental animals with a specific class of drug or chemical. This CD-ROM is available form the European Society of Toxicologic Pathology and can be ordered at the following website: 〈