Antidotes for alcohol and glycol toxicity: translating mechanisms into treatments.

Translational toxicology can be defined as the movement of potential antidotes for the treatment of poisonings from basic mechanistic research to the marketplace. Because poisonings are infrequent, the clinical development of antidotes is fraught with trials and tribulations. Academic scientists often conduct basic mechanistic work with antidotes but are infrequently involved in further drug development. This article presents the development of 4-methylpyrazole (4MP) (fomepizole) as an antidote against toxic alcohol poisonings, particularly by methanol and ethylene glycol (EG).