Using high-content screening technology for studying drug-induced hepatotoxicity in preclinical studies

Introduction: The need for alternatives to animal experimentation and traditional testing methods has been widely discussed in recent years. This has led scientists and regulatory authorities to investigate alternative methods for toxicity testing. High-content screening (HCS) has emerged as a powerful tool in predictive toxicology since it permits molecular, cellular and tissue-based toxicity assessments. HCS allows automated image acquisition and analysis, and provides information on multiple properties of individual cells loaded simultaneously with fluorescent dyes, which is used for drug safety evaluations.

Areas covered: Herein, the authors review the principles of HCS technology and some of the most widely used HCS assays for studying drug-induced hepatotoxicity in preclinical studies in general and in the pharmaceutical industry in particular.

Expert opinion: The widespread acceptation of HCS by pharmaceutical companies and academic researchers highlights the potential usefulness of this technology as a prioritization tool in drug development. The improvement of different key points such as fluorescent probes or bioinformatics tools will consolidate HCS in drug discovery.