British journal of clinical pharmacology
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Br J Clin Pharmacol · Aug 2021
Tapentadol and oxycodone reduce cingulate glutamate in healthy volunteers.
Tapentadol and oxycodone are commonly used analgesics. Preclinical studies have shown that oxycodone modulates brain metabolites related to opioid pathways, whereas tapentadol also affects noradrenergic activity. However, knowledge about the function of the medications in the human brain is limited. ⋯ Magnetic resonance spectroscopy was obtained in 21 healthy subjects from the anterior cingulate cortex, prefrontal cortex, and insula at baseline and after 14 days of treatment with either 50 mg tapentadol, 10 mg oxycodone (equipotent dose, both extended release) or placebo twice daily in a randomized double-blind cross-over study. Compared to baseline, decreased glutamate/creatine levels were identified in anterior cingulate cortex after tapentadol (1.26 ± 0.14 vs. 1.35 ± 0.18, P = .04) and oxycodone (1.26 ± 0.10 vs. 1.35 ± 0.12, P = .05) treatments, both with 7% reduction. This indicates that both analgesics modulate the glutamatergic system at the supraspinal level in humans.
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Br J Clin Pharmacol · Aug 2021
ReviewEfficacy and safety of colchicine in patients with coronary artery disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Inflammation plays a central role in the pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of atherosclerosis. Randomized controlled trials have investigated the potential benefit of colchicine in reducing cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) but produced conflicting results. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of colchicine in patients with CAD. ⋯ Colchicine reduced CV events and inflammatory markers, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and IL-6, in patients with coronary disease compared to controls. Its impact on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality requires further investigation.