BMC pharmacology & toxicology
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BMC Pharmacol Toxicol · Jun 2018
Multicenter Study Observational StudyCausality and preventability assessment of adverse drug events of antibiotics among inpatients having different lengths of hospital stay: a multicenter, cross-sectional study in Lahore, Pakistan.
A large number of hospital admissions are attributed to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and they are the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. The present study aimed to assess the causality and preventability of adverse drug events (ADEs) of antibiotics among inpatients having different lengths of hospital stay. ⋯ Antibiotics associated definitely preventable ADEs were more commonly found in patients having long LOS in the inpatient departments because of MEs and lack of proper pharmacovigilance system. The ADRs showed a probable and possible causal association with both β-lactams and non β-lactams antibiotics.
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BMC Pharmacol Toxicol · Jun 2018
Prescription opioid dispensing in New South Wales, Australia: spatial and temporal variation.
Patterns of opioid dispensing often exhibit substantial temporal and geographical variability, which has implications for public health policy decisions and interventions. The study examined recent trends in prescription opioid dispensing and identified high dispensing areas and factors associated with the doses dispensed. ⋯ Given that over-use of opioids is a major public health problem and that long-term use has substantial side effects including dependence, it is important to understand spatial patterns of opioid prescribing to enable targeted interventions. Nationwide implementation of real-time drug-monitoring programs and access to monitoring databases from both doctor and pharmacy point-of-care sources may potentially reduce excessive and undue use of opioid.
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BMC Pharmacol Toxicol · Apr 2018
Prevalence of borrowing and sharing prescription medicines and associated socio-demographic factors: findings from COBERS health centres in northern Uganda.
The use of prescription medications without the involvement of medical professionals is a growing public health concern. Therefore this study was conducted to determine the prevalence of borrowing and sharing prescription medicines and associated socio-demographic factors among community members who had sought health care from COBERS health centres. ⋯ A high proportion of study participants had borrowed or shared prescription medicines during the two months prior to our study. It is recommended that stakeholders sensitise the community members on the danger of borrowing and sharing prescription medicines to avert the practice.
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BMC Pharmacol Toxicol · Apr 2018
Sulforaphane attenuates pulmonary fibrosis by inhibiting the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive and fatal disease with no effective treatment. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical stage during the development of fibrosis. To assess the effect of sulforaphane (SFN) on the EMT and fibrosis using an in vitro transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-induced model and an in vivo bleomycin (BLM)-induced model. ⋯ SFN showed a significant anti-fibrotic effect in TGF-β-treated cell lines and BLM-induced fibrosis in mice. These findings showed that SFN has anti-fibrotic activity that may be considered in the treatment of IPF.
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BMC Pharmacol Toxicol · Dec 2017
The clinical efficacy of Afatinib 30 mg daily as starting dose may not be inferior to Afatinib 40 mg daily in patients with stage IV lung Adenocarcinoma harboring exon 19 or exon 21 mutations.
Afatinib is a second-generation epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). Compared to cytotoxic chemotherapy, afatinib has been shown to have better efficacy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations. However, 40 mg daily as the initial dose is often accompanied by serious adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and 28 to 53.3% of patients required a dose reduction. No previous study has compared the clinical efficacy and ADRs of different initial doses (40 mg vs. 30 mg daily) of afatinib in lung cancer treatment. ⋯ An initial afatinib dose of 30 mg daily had similar response and progression-free survival rates as an initial dose of 40 mg daily, but resulted in fewer serious ADRs in this study.