European journal of clinical pharmacology
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Oct 2014
GFR may not accurately predict aspects of proximal tubule drug handling.
Dose modification in renal impairment has traditionally been based on changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; estimated by creatinine clearance). However, many drugs are eliminated by tubular anionic and cationic transport where changes in eGFR may not necessarily reflect changes in tubular function. This study investigated the relationship between GFR and renal tubular function with reference to drug handling by using accepted drug probes. ⋯ Given that drug dosing schedules utilise eGFR values as the basis for modifying drug dosing, our results would suggest that a recommendation of a dose reduction according to eGFR alone should be treated with caution.
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Oct 2014
Ascertainment of acute liver injury in two European primary care databases.
The purpose of this study was to ascertain acute liver injury (ALI) in primary care databases using different computer algorithms. The aim of this investigation was to study and compare the incidence of ALI in different primary care databases and using different definitions of ALI. ⋯ This study shows that it is feasible to identify ALI cases if restrictive selection criteria are used and the possibility to review additional information to rule out differential diagnoses. Our results confirm that idiopathic ALI is a very rare disease in the general population. Finally, the construction of a standard definition with predefined criteria facilitates the timely comparison across databases.
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Sep 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialEffect of opicapone and entacapone upon levodopa pharmacokinetics during three daily levodopa administrations.
Opicapone is a novel third generation catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) inhibitor. The purpose of this study was to compare the levodopa pharmacokinetic profile throughout a day driven by the COMT inhibition either following repeated doses of opicapone or concomitant administration with entacapone. ⋯ Opicapone, a novel third generation COMT inhibitor, when compared to entacapone, provides a superior response upon the bioavailability of levodopa associated to more pronounced, long-lasting, and sustained COMT inhibition. The tolerability profile was favorable. On the basis of the results presented in this study and along with the earlier pharmacology studies, it is anticipated that opicapone adjunct therapy at the dosages of 25 and 50 mg will provide an enhancement in levodopa availability that will translate into clinical benefit for Parkinson's disease patients.
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Aug 2014
Randomized Controlled TrialComparison of two endogenous biomarkers of CYP3A4 activity in a drug-drug interaction study between midostaurin and rifampicin.
Midostaurin, a multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, is primarily metabolized by CYP3A4. This midostaurin drug-drug interaction study assessed the dynamic response and clinical usefulness of urinary 6β-hydroxycortisol to cortisol ratio (6βCR) and plasma 4β-hydroxycholesterol (4βHC) for monitoring CYP3A4 activity in the presence or absence of rifampicin, a strong CYP3A4 inducer. ⋯ Both 6βCR and 4βHC levels showed a good dynamic response range upon strong CYP3A4 induction with rifampicin. Because of lower inter- and intrasubject variability, 4βHC appeared more reliable and better predictive of CYP3A4 activity compared with 6βCR. The data from our study further support the clinical utility of these biomarkers.
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Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. · Jul 2014
Comparative StudyTherapeutic drug monitoring of once daily aminoglycoside dosing: comparison of two methods and investigation of the optimal blood sampling strategy.
Therapeutic drug monitoring of patients receiving once daily aminoglycoside therapy can be performed using pharmacokinetic (PK) formulas or Bayesian calculations. While these methods produced comparable results, their performance has never been checked against full PK profiles. We performed a PK study in order to compare both methods and to determine the best time-points to estimate AUC0-24 and peak concentrations (C max). ⋯ The ideal time-points for therapeutic drug monitoring of once daily administered aminoglycosides are 1 h after start of a 30-min infusion for the first time-point and 8-10 h after start of the infusion for the second time-point. Duration of the infusion and accurate registration of the time-points of blood drawing are essential for obtaining precise predictions.