Fundamental & clinical pharmacology
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Fundam Clin Pharmacol · Aug 2009
Underlying mechanism of penehyclidine hydrochloride on isolated rat uterus.
We investigated the underlying mechanisms of penehyclidine hydrochloride (PHC), a novel selective anticholinergic drug on isolated rat uterus. The method of radio-immunity assay was further employed to determine cyclic adenosine mono phosphate (cAMP) levels in isolated rat uterus for comparing with selective effect on muscarinic receptor subtypes. In the assay, PHC could decrease the content of cAMP in isolated rat uterus, but the difference was not statistically significant at dose of 10 mumol/L. In conclusion, our results suggested that PHC has no or poor effect on M(2) receptor subtypes in isolated rat uterus.
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Fundam Clin Pharmacol · Jun 2009
Historical ArticleMedicines submitted to narcotics regulations in France, 1992-2007.
The objective was to study the current narcotics regulations which are the most restrictive regarding prescription and dispensation practice in France, and their evolution over the period 1992-2007. This is an example of regulation in a European member state regarding medicines with a risk of abuse or dependence. Narcotics regulations were studied in the French public health code. ⋯ The prescription rules could be different for a given substance according to the route of administration or indication. In 2007, half of the narcotic opioids could be prescribed for 28 days, whereas in 1992, most of them could be prescribed for only 7 days. These results show the adaptation of French narcotics regulations, with the development of medicines indicated in acute or chronic pain treatment or opioid maintenance treatment.
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Fundam Clin Pharmacol · Jun 2009
Abstracts of the 13th Annual Meeting of the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, the 76th Annual Meeting of Society of Physiology, the 30th Pharmacovigilance Meeting, the 10th APNET Seminar, and the 7th CHU CIC Meeting. April 15-17, 2009. Marseille, France.
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Fundam Clin Pharmacol · Apr 2009
Dextropropoxyphene withdrawal from a French university hospital: impact on analgesic drug consumption.
Dextropropoxyphene is a weak opioid analgesic, widely used as a step 2 analgesic (according to WHO classification) in combination with peripheral analgesics, mainly paracetamol. Recent data have underlined its poor analgesic efficacy (in comparison with paracetamol), risks of serious adverse drug reactions (i.e. hepatic reactions, hallucinations, abuse, withdrawal symptoms, hypoglycaemia), possible lethality after overdose, its risk of accumulation in patients with renal failure or in elderly people and some pharmacokinetic insufficiencies (i.e. different half-lives for dextropropoxyphene and paracetamol). Taking into account these data, the drug committee of the Toulouse University Hospital (France) decided to withdraw dextropropoxyphene from the hospital formulary since 1 June 2005. ⋯ These results show that dextropropoxyphene withdrawal was not associated with a marked switch in prescriptions towards other analgesic drugs. This paper underlines the interest of a hospital-based drug committee to promote rational drug use. Finally, the present data allow us to discuss putative misuse of dextropropoxyphene.
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Fundam Clin Pharmacol · Feb 2009
Comparative StudyEffects of tramadol and dexketoprofen on analgesia and gastrointestinal transit in mice.
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the nature of the antinociceptive interaction among dexketoprofen (DEX), a mixed inhibitor of the cyclo-oxygenases, and tramadol (TRAM), a weak opioid with monoaminergic activity that inhibits norepinephrine and serotonin re-uptake. We assessed antinociception in the acetic acid writhing test, the tail flick and the formalin (FT) tests, and gastrointestinal transit (GIT) after the administration of a charcoal meal. The analysis of the interaction was carried out using isobolograms and interaction indexes or the fixed-dose method GIT. ⋯ On the inhibition of GIT, a dose-related inhibition was established for TRAM, but not for DEX. Using a fixed-dose protocol, we could demonstrate antagonism between DEX and TRAM on the inhibition of GIT. The results of the present study suggest that a combination of DEX and TRAM in a 1 : 1 proportion could be adequate to use in future clinical trials in humans.