Oseltamivir—Current Dosing Recommendations Reduce the Therapeutic Benefit in Patients With Mild to Moderate Renal Function and/or Large Body Mass: A Review of the Literature With Recommendations to Optimize Dosing, Including the Use of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring
Conclusions:
Current dosing advice for oseltamivir in patients with mild to moderate renal impairment and those with a larger body mass are likely to reduce (or even negate) its efficacy. The first dose should be 75 mg for patients with normal body mass and proportionately larger when body mass is larger. Subsequent doses should be reduced in proportion to the degree of renal impairment. Timely therapeutic drug monitoring can provide invaluable dosing (and other) information to the clinician treating patients with influenza and could improve patient outcomes. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Review Article Source Type: research
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotic Drugs
Conclusions:
Although TDM evidence for newer LAI formulations is limited, this review suggests the use of TDM when switching an antipsychotic from oral to its LAI formulation. The application of TDM practice is more accurate for dose selection than the use of dose equivalents as it accounts more precisely for individual characteristics. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Review Article Source Type: research
The Impact of Air Pollution on Neurodegenerative Diseases
Conclusions:
In conclusion, PM2.5 could significantly increase the risk of neurological disorders, such as AD and PD. Furthermore, any policy aimed at reducing air-polluting emissions and increasing air quality would be protective in human beings. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Review Article Source Type: research
A Review of Synthetic Cathinone–Related Fatalities From 2017 to 2020
Conclusions:
New SCs continuously replace older natural and synthetic stimulant drugs, making determining the cause of death difficult. Analytical methods and high-performance mass spectrometry instruments are essential to detect the low concentrations of these potent new SCs. Little data are available on the pharmacology of these new drugs; the evaluation of toxicological antemortem and postmortem findings provides critical data on the drug's pharmacology and toxicology and for the interpretation of new SC cases. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Review Article Source Type: research
Is Europe Facing an Emerging Opioid Crisis Comparable to the U.S.?
Abstract:
In the U.S., an opioid overdose crisis has emerged, attributable to over-prescription of opioid analgesics, driven by aggressive marketing by pharmaceutical companies, followed by surging heroin overdose deaths, and more recently, by the high mortality rates predominately because of illicitly manufactured fentanyl and analogs of fentanyl. In Europe, the use of prescription opioids for pain management has also increased in the last 2 decades, although it is debatable as to whether this could lead to a similar opioid overdose crisis. To address this issue, recent trends in opioid prescription rates, prevalence ...
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Focus Series: Focus on the Opioid Crisis Source Type: research
Abuse-Deterrent Opioid Formulations and the Opioid Crisis: A Pharmacist's Perspective
Conclusions:
Abuse-deterrent opioid products may lead to reductions in abuse, overdose, and overdose fatalities. However, cost, loopholes in deterrence mechanism, and possible diversion to other substances hinder their role in the opioid crisis. Multiple approaches must be used to improve opioid safety, and further postmarketing and real-world analyses should be performed on available opioid formulations to assess their impact on abuse-related adverse events. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Focus Series: Focus on the Opioid Crisis Source Type: research
The Hidden Cost of the Opioid Epidemic in the United States: Drug Screening in Insurance Claims
Conclusions:
An LBM program can positively address policy enforcement while reducing unnecessarily complex tests and limiting potential fraud, waste, and abuse by directing testing toward laboratories amenable to cost-efficient contractual savings. Moreover, for definitive drug testing, the enforcement of the use of Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes and a move toward more cost-efficient tests (G0480), when clinically applicable, supported by clinical practice guidelines, or evidence-based medicine, is an approach to providing medical benefits while maintaining health costs. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Focus Series: Focus on the Opioid Crisis Source Type: research
Impact of the Opioid Epidemic on Drug Testing
Conclusions:
Both clinical and forensic laboratories have adapted practices and developed new testing approaches to respond to the opioid epidemic. Such changes are likely to continue evolving in parallel with changes in both prescription and nonprescription opioid availability and use patterns, as well as emerging populations that are affected by the “waves” of the opioid epidemic. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Focus Series: Focus on the Opioid Crisis Source Type: research
Physician Perspective and Challenges Ordering/Interpreting Laboratory Tests Related to the Opioid Crisis in America
Abstract:
The opioid crisis is a profound public health crisis in the United States. It has significantly increased morbidity and mortality in our nation. There are many contributing factors to the opioid crisis, including a strong national and international interest to treat pain as effectively as possible. To combat this crisis, numerous strategies have been implemented over the past few years at the legislative, health system, and patient levels. As a result of these efforts, for the first time since 1999, drug overdose deaths in the United States decreased from 2017 to 2018, when deaths involving all opioids, presc...
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Focus Series: Focus on the Opioid Crisis Source Type: research
The North American Opioid Epidemic
Conclusions:
This article highlights the history, underlying issues, ongoing national regulatory efforts, and future strategies and therapies to help mitigate the opioid crisis in North America. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - January 21, 2021 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Focus Series: Focus on the Opioid Crisis Source Type: research
Comment on “Meropenem, Cefepime, and Piperacillin Protein Binding in Patient Samples”
No abstract available (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - November 23, 2020 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Letters to the Editor Source Type: research
Exploring Reference Values for Hair Cortisol: Hair Weight Versus Hair Protein
This article explores the hair protein concentration (HPC) as another possible reference value for HCC.
Methods:
For n = 18 hair samples cut from the posterior vertex, the HCC, HPC, and hair sample weight were determined, and the cortisol-to-weight and cortisol-to-protein ratios were calculated. Correlations were analyzed between the HCC, HPC, and hair sample weight as well as between the cortisol-to-weight and cortisol-to-protein ratios. Hair sample weight and HPC were included as independent variables in a stepwise linear regression model to predict HCC.
Results:
The HCC and HPC did not correlate significan...
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - November 23, 2020 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Original Article Source Type: research
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Antidepressants for the Treatment of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain With and Without Depression
Conclusions:
Dosing of antidepressants for chronic pain relief should specifically take comorbid depression into account. TDM may provide better outcomes of pain relief in an IMPT setting in patients with comorbid depression. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - November 23, 2020 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Original Article Source Type: research
Impact of ABCB1 Polymorphism on Levetiracetam Serum Concentrations in Epileptic Uygur Children in China
Conclusions:
ABCB1 G2677T/A and C3435T may affect levetiracetam disposition and therapeutic efficacy in Uygur children with epilepsy. Genetic analysis could be a valuable tool for predicting the response to antiseizure medications before the start of treatment and could contribute to personalized medicine for Uygur children with epilepsy. (Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring)
Source: Therapeutic Drug Monitoring - November 23, 2020 Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Tags: Original Article Source Type: research
