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Biomedical subjects

A Richens

Publications and source records attributed to A Richens.

At least 199 records · Page 11Linked to original sources

Paracetamol disposition in normal subjects and in patients treated with antiepileptic drugs.

1 The serum concentration profile of paracetamol has been determined after administration of single 1000 mg intravenous and oral doses in six normal subjects and six epileptic patients on chronic antiepileptic drug therapy. The urinary excretion of free and conjugated paracetamol has also been determined. 2 Following intravenous administration, serum paracetamol concentration declined with first-order kinetics. Both elimination rate and total body clearance were higher in the epileptic patients, although in neither case was the difference statistically significant. 3 The oral bioavailability (mean +/- s.e. mean) was significantly lower in the epileptic patients than in the normal subjects (0.77 +/- 0.03 and 0.89 +/- 0.02 respectively, P less than 0.01), whereas the urinary excretion total (free+conjugated) paracetamol was almost identical in the two groups. 4 It is suggested that the lower bioavailability of paracetamol in the epileptic patients results from enhancement of first-pass metabolism, secondary to enzyme induction.

Acetaminophen↗

Reduction of oral bioavailability of lignocaine by induction of first pass metabolism in epileptic patients.

1. The pharmacokinetics of lignocaine following single oral and intravenous doses have been investigated in six normal volunteers and in six patients receiving chronic antiepileptic drug therapy. 2. After intravenous administration, serum lignocaine levels declined biexponentially in all subjects. The serum clearance (mean +/- s.d.) was slightly higher in the patients (0.85 +/- 0.09 v 0.77 +/- 0.07 l/min) but the difference was not statistically significant. 3. Lignocaine bioavailability after oral administration was more than two-fold in the patients than in the normal subjects (0.15 +/- 0.06 v 0.37 +/- 0.09, P < 0.001). 4. It is suggested that the reduced bioavailability of lignocaine in the patients is a consequence of stimulation of hepatic first-pass metabolism by antiepileptic drugs.

Administration, Oral↗

Theophylline: biochemical pharmacology and pharmacokinetics.

Theophylline and its derivatives, such as aminophylline, have an established role as bronchodilators, although their mode of action in man is not clear. There is circumstantial evidence that therapeutic doses of theophylline may have a phosphodiesterase inhibiting effect, thus potentiating the effects of cyclic AMP. However, it remains to be established whether this is the primary mode of action of theophylline at the biochemical level. The pathways of theophylline metabolism have been clarified, although most of the enzymes involved have not been characterized. Hepatic microsomal enzyme induction by polycyclic hydrocarbons will increase the rate of theophylline elimination. There are a number of factors which influence theophylline clearance in adults, which is known to be highly variable. These factors include obesity, smoking habit, diet and the presence of such diseases as hepatic cirrhosis, acute pulmonary oedema, cor pulmonale and viral respiratory infection. There is a good correlation between plasma theophylline level and bronchodilator effect. This can be demonstrated at plasma levels as low as 5 microgram/ml, although optimal levels are usually greater than 10 microgram/ml. Unacceptable toxicity usually occurs in association with plasma levels greater than 20 microgram/ml. The maintenance of adequate plasma theophylline levels by the use of a sustained-release aminophylline tablet is discussed.

Aminophylline↗

Is phenytoin metabolism dose-dependent by enzyme saturation or by feedback inhibition?

The suggestion from animal experiments that phenytoin metabolism may be dose-dependent in man due to feedback inhibition by the major metabolite, 5-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin, was examined in 3 normal subjects by measuring phenytoin clearance during an intravenous infusion of the metabolite and during a control infusion of solvent. Clearance was measured using both carbon-labeled and unlabeled phenytoin. The infusion of metabolite did not produce any consistent change of phenytoin clearance, suggesting that feedback inhibition does not occur in man.

Adult↗

Plasma protein binding interaction between phenytoin and valproic acid in vitro.

1 Valproic acid or phenytoin were added to fresh human serum in varying concentrations and their binding characteristics determined by the method of Scatchard (1949). 2 Changes in serum albumin binding were investigated for phenytoin in the presence of 280, 560, 1050 and 2100 mumol l-1 valproic acid, and for valproic acid in the presence of 40, 120, 280 and 480 mumol l-1 phenytoin. 3 Phenytoin appeared to bind to a single site on the albumin molecule and could be competitively displaced from this site by concentrations of valproic acid above 280 mumol l-1. 4 At high concentrations of valproic acid, the affinity of phenytoin for albumin was greatly decreased but the number of available binding sites was increased from one to four. 5 Valproic acid was bound to two high affinity and five low affinity binding sites but the latter were not detectable at valproic acid concentrations below 2100 mumol l-1. 6 Phenytoin displaced valproic acid from its high affinity binding sites, although this was statistically significant only at a concentration of 480 mumol l-1 phenytoin.

Binding Sites↗

Water intoxication in epileptic patients receiving carbamazepine.

Plasma sodium and osmolality were determined in 80 adult epileptic patients receiving chronic treatment with carbamazepine and in 50 control patients treated with other anticonvulsant drugs. Mean plasma osmolality was significantly lower in the carbamazepine-treated patients but mean plasma sodium did not differ in the two groups. Hyponatraemia was found in five of the carbamazine-treated patients and hypo-osmolality in six. None of the control patients had hyponatraemia and only one had a borderline low osmolality. Three of the 13 patients receiving carbamazepine alone were hyponatraemic. Plasma sodium concentration correlated negatively with both daily carbamazepine dose and serum carbamazepine level. Free water clearance after an oral water load was determined in six patients on carbamazepine alone and in six normal subjects not receiving drug therapy. The capacity of some of the patients to excrete the water load was found to be grossly impaired.

Adolescent↗

Ioglycamide (Biligram) studies in man--plasma binding, renal and biliary excretion studies in jaundiced and anicteric patients.

When five patients with varying degrees of hepatic impairment and a T-tube in situ were given intravenous ioglycamide at a rate of 2 mg/kg/min for two hours the mean biliary excretion in the first two hours was only 3.2% of the administered dose. In contrast, in five T-tube patients with relatively normal liver function the mean biliary excretion over the same time interval was 20.6%. The mean plasma concentration of ioglycamide achieved at the end of a two-hour intravenous infusion at 2 mg/kg/min was 1427 +/- 187 microgram/ml in six anicteric patients and 1262 +/- 82 in six jaundiced patients. Despite these very similar plasma levels the 24-hour urinary excretion of ioglycamide was 42.3 +/- 3.8% of the administered dose in the patients with jaundice compared with only 18.1 +/- 2.4% in the anicteric group. These differences probably reflect the fact that the percentage of unbound contrast agent in the plasma of the jaundiced group (11.9 +/- 1.9%) was significantly higher than that of the anicteric group (6.4 +/- 0.9%). It is suggested that bilirubin and possibly other substances in the plasma are competing with ioglycamide for binding sites on albumin. These factors need to be borne in mind when performing intravenous cholangiograms on jaundiced patients.

Aged↗