Lectures (25 hours)
General Toxicology: aims of Toxicology. Sources of toxicants and factors that influence their activity. Etiology of intoxication, chemical and chemical-physical properties of the active substance, its toxicity and the factors that can vary it. Toxicokinetics: absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion. Toxicodynamics. Doses in toxicology (acute, subacute and chronic toxicity). Antidotism and antagonism. Prophylactic measures and therapeutic means of the main intoxications.
Special Toxicology: Classification of toxicants: inorganic and organic compounds. Pesticides: Organophosphorus, Organochlorines, Carbamates, Pyrethrins and Pyrethroids, Fungicides, Herbicides, Rodenticides, Molluscicides. Mycotoxins. Environmental pollutants. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Dioxins. Polychlorinated biphenyls. Nitrogenous compounds. Fertilizers. For each class of toxicants, are described, chemical-physical characteristics, kinetics, mechanism of action, effects and the principles of the adequate therapy to be adopted.
Practical training (11 hours).
Practical training sessions are carried out in groups of 3; each group consists of a number of 10-12 students to better guarantee the quality of teaching. Topics are established before the start of the course.
- Identification, determination and quantification of aflatoxins in feedingstuffs. In vitro simulation of organophosphoric intoxication and use of the specific antidote. Nitrite assay with spectrophotometric method. Veterinary didactic hospital (clinical signs of the main poisonings in dogs and cats and, if there is a poisoned animal, description of the case including the decontamination techniques used).