A toxicologist’s guide to biomarkers of hepatic response

Biological markers (biomarkers) are used to recognize, characterize and monitor treatment-related responses following exposure to xenobiotics. Biomarkers serve three primary applications in toxicology: 1) to confirm expo-sure to a deleterious agent, 2) to provide a system for monitoring individual susceptibility to a toxicant, and 3) to quantitatively assess deleterious effects of a toxicant to an organism or individual. Because the liver is a general target for adverse effects of drugs and other chemicals, biomarkers of untoward hepatic response to xenobiotics are of particular interest to the pharmaceutical toxicolo-gist. General requirements for the latter category of biomarkers are sample availability, target organ specific-ity, sensitivity for the toxicity of interest, accessibility, a relatively short half-life, and available detection systems