European journal of clinical pharmacology
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Mar 2009
Comparative StudyStarting insomnia treatment: the use of benzodiazepines versus z-hypnotics. A prescription database study of predictors.
Drugs prescribed for the treatment of insomnia can be either benzodiazepine hypnotics or the newer z-hypnotics, zopiclone and zolpidem. This paper explores possible explanations for the choice made. ⋯ Z-hypnotics were commonly prescribed. Norwegian drug therapy recommendations also suggest a preference for z-hypnotics. The clear predominance of the shorter acting z-hypnotics may be due to the fact that only longer acting benzodiazepines are available in Norway. Reasons for prescribing benzodiazepines may be co-morbid psychiatric illness, such as anxiety, or a belief that benzodiazepine hypnotics are more effective than z-hypnotics.
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Mar 2009
An analysis of the clinical development of drugs in Norway for the year 2000: the completion of research and publication of results.
In Norway, very little data are available on the relation between the total number of research projects on the clinical development of drugs that have been started, the number of these projects in which the research phase has been completed and the number of projects for which results have been published. The aim of this study was to determine the number of projects in which the research phase had been completed and the results published. ⋯ The final analysis revealed that 245 research projects on the clinical development of drugs had been started in 2000. Of these, 178 (73%) completed the research phase as planned. The results of 131 (54%) of these projects were published in a scientific journal, and another 34 (14%) were reported as a congress abstract or as report to a sponsor; 80 (33%) were not published at all. Industrial sponsors seemed to promote both the completion of the research process and the publication of results in scientific journals.
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Mar 2009
The CYP2C19 ultra-rapid metabolizer genotype influences the pharmacokinetics of voriconazole in healthy male volunteers.
To study the pharmacokinetic characteristics of voriconazole in healthy Chinese male volunteers in relation to cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2C19 genotype status, including ultra-rapid metabolizers (URMs), homozygous extensive metabolizers (EMs), and poor metabolizers (PMs). ⋯ Our data indicate that the presence of the CYP2C19*17 allele results in ultra-rapid metabolism of voriconazole after a single oral dose.