The Comparative Toxicogenomics database: The influence of environmental chemicals on genes and disease development

Abstract

Nowaday, the importance of environmental chemicals on the development of diseases and their detrimental effect on human health is becoming increasingly important. Particular consideration is given to the influence of the environmental chemicals on disease development through interactions with genes. The Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD database) contributes to a better understanding of the chemical-gene-disease relationship. The CTD database is a unique data source, publicly available at http://CTD.mdibl.org which links chemical substances, their interactions with genes with the influence of phenotype on disease development, and enables the construction of adverse outcome pathways networks. The database provides a detailed analysis of the toxicity mechanisms, the identification of biomarkers and the ability to test the effects of two or more chemical substances, which is of great importance in testing the toxicity of mixtures and is the starting point for further testing. The aim of this paper is to present the CTD database with an overview of its practical application as well as to review the information provided by the database using available tools.