Dose-response or dose-effect curves in in vitro experiments and their use to study combined effects of neurotoxicants.

Interactions among neurotoxicants in in vitro models, where the molecular mechanisms of toxicity are generally studied, represent today an emerging field in the experimental neurotoxicology. In this chapter, we define some general concepts about the optimization of in vitro experiments to assess the dose/concentration-effect/response relationships and to extrapolate the functions describing them. After describing the available models to study interactions (the Bliss independence criterion and the Loewe additivity model), we present a method to practically apply these models to experimental data. Finally, we provide some examples of the theory of interactions among neurotoxicants in in vitro models.