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R J Fruncillo

Publications and source records attributed to R J Fruncillo.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

The effect of thermal injury on drug metabolism in the rat.

Because of previously reported hepatic abnormalities in burns, the activity of the hepatic drug metabolizing system was assessed in burned Sprague-Dawley rats. In 16% burned male rats, pentobarbital sleeping times were significantly prolonged from day 1 to day 24 postburn, and trichloroethanol sleeping times were significantly prolonged from day 1 to day 10 postburn. The activity of p-nitroanisole O-demethylase was significantly depressed in male rats at 5, 10, and 17 days post-16% burn. In female rats, this enzyme was more depressed at 10 days post-16% burn than in male rats. A direct relationship was found between per cent burn and impairment of enzyme activity. The depression of drug metabolizing enzymes was inducible by phenobarbital pretreatment. Pretreatment with the immunosuppressive drug azathioprine prevented the enzyme depression at 5 days postburn, a result which possibly implicates a postburn hyperimmune response as the mechanism for the depressed enzyme levels.

Animals↗

Impaired drug-metabolizing ability in the burned rat.

Research indicating hepatic dysfunction in burn injury led us to investigate the effect of thermal injury on the rat hepatic microsomal drug-metabolizing system. Heated water was used to produce burns corresponding to 15% of the rat's total body surface area. In vitro measurements of p-nitroanisole o-demethylase and aniline hydroxylase activities were significantly depressed on days 1 and 10 postburn. Likewise, in vivo sleeping and paralysis times with pentobarbital and zoxazolamine were significantly prolonged on these same postburn days. On day 10 postburn, the burned rats had significantly decreased levels of urinary D-glucaric acid, a metabolite that correlates with drug metabolizing activity. These results raise the possibility of impaired drug metabolism in human burn victims.

Aniline Hydroxylase↗

Antiemetics.

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Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗

Urinary excretion of D-glucaric acid by severely burned patients.

The 24-hr excretion of urinary D-glucaric acid (UGA) has been measured in 5 seriously burned adults and compared with 6 healthy adults. In the burn patients mean UGA was 14.4 +/- 5.4 (+/- SD) mumoles/day and 28.7 +/- 6.5 mumoles/day in controls (p less than 0.002). In a 6-year-old female, UGA was also found to be very low. In a seventh burn patient, an adult male taking 20 mg of fluphenazine until his injury, his UGA was still in the normal range (29 mumoles/day) on the day of admission but descended to 21 mumoles/day at 2 days, to 16 at 4 days, and to 13 at 6 days. Treatment with fluphenazine was then reinstituted and on the tenth day UGA was 28 mumoles/day, indicating that after thermal injury UGA can respond to drugs. Although the inference has not been proved that decreased UGA corresponds to a decreased activity of drug metabolism, there is evidence of a strong correlation between increased UGA and increased drug metabolism. A decrease of UGA in disorders that generally lower metabolic activity supports a possible correlation in severe burns. If drug metabolism activity is lowered in the seriously burned patient, drug overdose may well result from the usual clinical doses.

Adolescent↗