Episode 91: Toxicology Results - What Does the Number Actually Mean?

This week on The Tox Lab, we're taking a closer look at one of the most challenging parts of toxicology: interpreting the results.If we give you a number, can you tell us what it means?We begin by exploring why interpreting a toxicology result is rarely as simple as comparing a concentration with a reference value. We discuss the range of clinical, analytical, pharmacological, and contextual information needed to understand what a result actually means, as well as the biases that can influence the way toxicology results are interpreted.We then turn to recent published work evaluating the performance of AI and large language models in toxicology interpretation. Can these tools accurately interpret toxicology results, or do they reflect the same pitfalls seen when results are considered without sufficient clinical context? We explore some of the common errors and limitations reported in the literature when AI is applied to toxicology result interpretation.Finally, we examine the use of reference intervals in toxicology and ask whether they can really help clinicians interpret drug concentrations. We discuss why reference intervals are not always straightforward and why context matters when deciding whether a toxicology result is clinically significant.Join us as we explore the complexities of toxicology result interpretation, the risks of relying on numbers without context, and whether AI could actually help us make sense of toxicology results.Hope you enjoy!Links to the papers we discussed:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15563650.2026.2698028https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073826001052?via%3Dihub https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13152082/ Disclaimer: All opinions are our own.Find us on instagram: @the_tox_labEmail us here: thetoxlab@gmail.comCheck out our new website: https://thetoxlab.co.uk/ Support us here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thetoxlab