Teleost kidney in evaluation of xenobiotic toxicity and elimination

The unique anatomy of the marine teleost kidney and the development of techniques to take advantage of that anatomy are discussed and several examples of their use to study xenobiotic excretion and toxicity are documented. These include: 1) characterization of renal organic anion transport, the system that mediates excretion of many such compounds and their metabolites; 2) assessment of the relative roles of transport, metabolism, and plasma binding in xenobiotic excretion; 3) examination of the morphological aspects of cellular injury; and 4) analysis of subcellular sites of heavy metal toxicity. Also presented are applications of new techniques in membrane physiology to the study of the effects of xenobiotics. It is suggested that continued application of the comparative approach, as exemplified by the use of the marine teleost kidney, will provide powerful and versatile tools for investigation of fundamental biological processes and the interactions of foreign compounds with those processes.