At the TIPS journal club meeting held on April 22, 2019, topic of “The Potential of Drosophila in Pharmacology and Toxicology’’ was presented by F. Fouladvand and V. Tahouri, Pharm.D. candidates. A brief summary of this presentation is in below.
In this presentation the features of the Drosophila model are reviewed and a generalized overall scheme for its use in toxicology and pharmacology were presented. Next the use of Drosophila in the novel models of toxicological settings with emphasizing on its unique attributes for assaying different behavioral aspects were discussed. The Drosophila model can effectively be maintained at low cost in the laboratory, and it has been recommended as an alternative model to vertebrate usage. Then, the examples of how and where the Drosophila model has proven fruitful in evaluating current toxicants were highlighted. While there are shortcomings in the Drosophila model, which exclude it from effective toxicological testing it certain arenas, conservation of fundamental cellular and developmental mechanisms between Drosophila and man are extensive enough to warrant a central role for the Drosophila model in pharmacological and toxicological testing.