Role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in drug-induced toxicity

Drug-induced toxicity is a key issue for public health because some side effects can be severe and life-threatening. These adverse effects can also be a major concern for the pharmaceutical companies since significant toxicity can lead to the interruption of clinical trials, or the withdrawal of the incriminated drugs from the market. Recent studies suggested that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress could be an important event involved in drug liability, in addition to other key mechanisms such as mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress. Indeed, drug-induced ER stress could lead to several deleterious effects within cells and tissues including accumulation of lipids, cell death, cytolysis, and inflammation. After recalling important information regarding drug-induced adverse reactions and ER stress in diverse pathophysiological situations, this review summarizes the main data pertaining to drug-induced ER stress and its potential involvement in different adverse effects. Drugs presented in this review are for instance acetaminophen (APAP), arsenic trioxide and other anticancer drugs, diclofenac, and different antiretroviral compounds. We also included data on tunicamycin (an antibiotic not used in human medicine because of its toxicity) and thapsigargin (a toxic compound of the Mediterranean plant Thapsia garganica) since both molecules are commonly used as prototypical toxins to induce ER stress in cellular and animal models.