System and method for metabolyte neuronal network analysis

The present invention provides a system and method for testing the neuronal effects of a compound and its metabolites. The system ( 100 ) includes a microelectrode array ( 102 ), a data capture unit ( 108 ) communicably coupled to the microelectrode array ( 104 ), a processor ( 110 ) communicably coupled to the data capture unit ( 108 ) and one or more input/output devices ( 112 ) communicably coupled to the processor ( 110 ). The microelectrode array ( 102 ) is capable of supporting genetically modified neuronal cells ( 104 ) and measuring neuronal activity. The testing medium containing the compound and the metabolites is extracted from hepatocyte cells ( 106 ). The method ( 400 ) determines the effects of the metabolites of a sample compound on neuronal cells by exposing a sample compound to hepatocyte cells ( 406 ), extracting medium from the exposed cells ( 408 ) and exposing the extracted medium to neuronal cells on a microelectrode array ( 410 ). The effects of a sample compound and its metabolites versus the effects of a sample compound alone can be determined from a comparison of the data ( 406 ).