Aim: With the widespread use of SGLT2i, various adverse events (AEs) have been reported. This study aimed to describe the distribution of SGLT2i-related AEs in different systems, quantify the association of important medical events (IMEs) and SGLT2i regimens, and build a signal profile of SGLT2i- induced IMEs. Methods: Data from 2015 Q1 to 2020 Q4 in the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System database (FAERS) were selected to conduct disproportionality analysis. Two signal indicators, the reported odds ratio (ROR) and information component (IC), were used to evaluate the correlation between SGLT2i and IMEs. The lower end of the 95% confidence interval of IC (IC025) exceeding zero was deemed a signal. For ROR, it was defined a signal if ROR025 over one, with at least 3 cases. Results: A total of 45,771,436 records were involved, including 111,564 records related to SGLT2i, with 38,366 records of SGLT2i-induced IMEs. Overall, SGLT2i was significantly associated with IMEs (IC=0.36, 95% CI: 0.35-0.38; ROR=1.44, 95% CI: 1.42-1.46). Most SGLT2i-related adverse events occurred in monotherapy (92.93%). Diabetic ketoacidosis was the most IMEs. Specifically, acute osteomyelitis has the strongest signal of all SGLT2i (IC025=7.83), and it was unique to canagliflozin. Diabetic ketoacidosis, acute kidney injury, ketoacidosis, Fournier’s gangrene, and euglycemic diabetic ketoacidosis were common to the four FDA-approved SGLT2i. Conclusion: Our study demonstrated that different SGLT2i regimens lead to different important adverse events, but there are overlapping events. Early identification and management of SGLT2i-associated IMEs are essential for clinical practice.

Chagas cardiomyopathy is the most prevalent non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in Latin America, with high morbidity and mortality even today. Treatment of these patients is based on the use of medications for heart failure. This study evaluated a cohort of patients with Chagas heart disease who used sacubitril valsartan at a referral hospital for the disease in Brazil. After six months, there was a symptomatic improvement in these individuals assessed by the NYHA classification, with a 44.3% reduction in the absolute number of patients classified as III-IV in the period (p 0.035), but without changes in the parameters on the echocardiogram for reverse ventricular remodeling and still high mortality rate and hospitalization. These results emphasize the importance of studying the use of sacubitril valsartan in chagas heart disease to better describe its effectiveness taking into account the peculiarities of these individuals.

Aims: To develop a pharmaceutical consultation mode of multidisciplinary individualized medication recommendations, to improve the quantity and quality of clinical pharmacists’ consultations Methods: A retrospective study of 542 clinical pharmacists-led consultations was conducted. In the pre-intervention group, medication advice was given based on the purpose of the consultation. In the post-intervention group, a consultation mode of multidisciplinary individualized medication recommendation was implemented, in which clinical pharmacists with specialties of anticoagulation, gastroenterology and nutrition were asked to give individualized medication recommendations and a set of evaluation criteria for rational drug use was formulated. Outcomes, including the patterns and number of consultations, individualized medication recommendations, acceptance rate and effectiveness rate, were compared between the two periods. Results: A total of 651 cases were reviewed, and 542 cases of which meeting the predesigned inclusion and exclusion criteria were included, with 94 and 448 patients in the pre-intervention and post-intervention groups, respectively. The total number of consultations increased year by year, so did the number of general consultations, multidisciplinary difficult consultations, departments applying for general consultations, departments applying for multidisciplinary difficult consultations, anti-infection consultations and non-anti-infection consultations in details. The effectiveness rate of consultations in the post-intervention group was 81.7% vs 70.2% in the pre-intervention group (P < 0.05). No difference was shown between two groups in acceptance rate (96.9% vs 95.7%, p=0.578).

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, industry and healthcare providers have investigated methodologies to manage infection of SARS-CoV-2. One treatment breakthrough has been the introduction of monoclonal antibodies to prevent worsening SARS-CoV-2 infection in non-hospitalized patients diagnosed with COVID-19. These monoclonal antibodies, like bamlanivimab, bind to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and prevent its ability to binding to human ACE2 receptors. This is a case of a 91 year-old man with no prior seizure history who developed new-onset seizures after bamlanivimab infusion.

Most but not all observational studies of statin treatment of COVID-19 patients suggest that treatment improves outcomes. However, almost all observational studies fail to consider what cardiovascular investigators have known for 15-20 years: withdrawing statins after hospital admission has detrimental effects on patient outcomes. Continuing (or starting) statin treatment after hospital admission consistently improves COVID-19 patient outcomes, whereas discontinuing treatment does not. Thus, observational studies of the effectiveness of statin treatment of COVID-19 patients must consider the consequences of statin withdrawal.

Improved global access to novel age-appropriate formulations for paediatric subsets, either of new chemical entities or existing drugs, is a priority to ensure that medicines meet the needs of these patients. However, despite regulatory incentives, the introduction to the market of paediatric formulations still lags behind adult products. This is mainly caused by additional complexities associated with the development of acceptable age-appropriate paediatric medicines. This position paper proposes the use of a paediatric Quality Target Product Profile (pQTPP) as an efficient tool to facilitate early planning and decision making during the children-centric formulation design for new chemical entities, or to repurpose/reformulate off-patent drugs. Essential key attributes of a paediatric formulation are suggested and described. Moreover, greater collaboration between formulation experts and clinical colleagues, including healthcare professionals, is advocated to lead to safe and effective, age-appropriate medicinal products. Acceptability testing should be a secondary endpoint in paediatric clinical trials to ensure post-marketing adherence is not compromised by a lack of acceptability. Not knowing the indications and the related age groups and potential dosing regimens early enough is still a major hurdle for efficient paediatric formulation development; however the proposed pQTPP could be a valuable collaborative tool for planning and decision making to expedite paediatric product development.

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a teamwork clinical pharmacokinetic services aimed to optimize pharmacotherapy of certain drugs such as those with a narrow therapeutic range, complicated pharmacokinetics. It involves the determination of drug level in blood samples taken at the appropriate time. Interpretation of results requires integration of pharmacokinetics, the pharmacodynamics of the drug and the patient’s clinical profile. To be cost-effective the service should be optimized. This review was written by experts from different developing countries to highlight the fundamentals of the service and provide suggestions for its optimization. These cover the rationale of requesting drug level, design of request form, optimal sampling, and analytical tools. guidelines for appropriate interpretation of drug levels; completeness of the roles of the qualified medical team; continuing education and skills development; involve the patients in improving the service, conducting relevant research; use PK software and integration of TDM with pharmacogenomics

Intravenous epoprostenol remains an important treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) but can only be given intravenously. Until recently the only formulation available to our patients (Flolan 10.5) was thermolabile and required daily preparation. In 2016, we transitioned all patients in our service to a new, thermostable formulation (Flolan 12). All patients in our unit using epoprostenol as of November 2016 were recruited to this prospective study which examined for safety issues and effects on QoL, 6MWD and serum NT-proBNP. We also collected qualitative data regarding activities of daily living. The transition process did not result in any clinical deterioration. There were no safety issues identified and all but one of the participants preferred the new formulation. We therefore conclude that transitioning patients from intravenous Flolan 10.5 to Flolan 12 is safe, does not lead to any clinical deterioration and is acceptable to patients for reasons of convenience.

Aims: Assessing the suitability and safety of doses of levetiracetam in pediatrics using physiologic-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. Methods: A PBPK model of levetiracetam was developed and validated for healthy adults and scaled for children (0.5 to 12 years old). Prediction of levetiracetam exposure at steady- state, were carried out for different therapeutic regimens to achieve the target of Cmax values within the therapeutic range of 5 to 46 µg ml-1. Then, a multivariate linear regression analysis (MLR) was applied to correlate the simulated data with covariates: dose, therapeutic regimen, sex, age and body weight (BW), to describe the best model prediction for the initial dosing in pediatrics. Results: The results indicated the suitability of the PBPK model for adults and pediatrics. For children aged 0.5 to 6 y.o. the dose range capable of reaching the pharmacokinetic target is between 10 and 100 mg kg-1 day-1, for 7 to 9 y.o. doses between 20 and 90 mg kg-1 day-1, and for 10 to 12 y.o. doses between 20 to 80 mg kg-1 day-1. Further, the MLR related Cmax to dose, therapeutic regimen, and BW. Conclusions: For 3 daily administrations, it is suggested that maximum daily doses of 80 mg kg-1 could be used for ages between 0.5 and 6 y.o. and 100 mg kg-1 for ages above 7 years old, since they weigh below 50 kg. The PBPK model lumped to MLR could be very supportive for clinical decisions to safety and effectiveness of prescription of levetiracetam along the titration phase.

Rationale & Objective: Hyperphosphatemia is present in most patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and has been associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. Phosphate binders (calcium-based and calcium free) are the mainstay pharmacologic treatment to lower phosphorus levels in patients with ESRD. Study Design: We evaluated biochemical markers of vascular calcification, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction in patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) treated with sevelamer carbonate versus calcium acetate. Setting & Participants: We enrolled 50 CKD patients (stages 3 and 4) and treated them with sevelamer carbonate and calcium acetate for 12 weeks. Outcomes: At the end of the study the biomarkers of vascular calcification, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction were analyzed. Results: A significant increase in HDL-cholesterol was observed with sevelamer carbonate but not with calcium acetate. Treatment with sevelamer carbonate reduced serum phosphate, calcium phosphate, and FGF-23 levels and there was no change with calcium acetate treatment. The inflammatory markers IL-8, IFN-γ, and TNFα decreased with response to both treatments. The levels of IL-6 significantly increased with calcium acetate treatment and no change was observed in the sevelamer carbonate treatment group. Conclusion: Sevelamer carbonate showed favorable effects on anti-inflammatory and vascular calcification biomarkers compared to calcium acetate treatment. Funding: Funding was received from Sanofi/Genzyme. Trial Registration: Registered at trial.com, registration number NCT01277497.

Although infrequent, drug-induced agranulocytosis can be stimulated by antibiotics. Here, we analyzed the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report database to identify profiles of antibiotic-induced agranulocytosis. Ten of 60 antibiotics showed signals for agranulocytosis; the reporting odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for ampicillin/sulbactam, amikacin, cefmetazole, cefozopran, clindamycin, ciprofloxacin, imipenem/cilastatin, kanamycin, teicoplanin, and vancomycin were 2.65 (1.79–3.80), 2.49 (1.91–4.34), 4.48 (2.27–6.92), 2.77 (1.88–3.95), 1.64 (1.04–2.47), 2.01 (1.40–2.82), 2.78 (2.11–3.60), 6.05 (2.16–13.7), 2.05 (1.31–3.07), and 3.54 (2.73–4.54), respectively. The median times-to-onset of agranulocytosis for ampicillin/sulbactam, cefmetazole, cefozopran, clindamycin, imipenem/cilastatin, kanamycin, teicoplanin, and vancomycin were 20, 6, 10, 16, 12, 3, 18, and 13 days, respectively. The 95% confidence intervals of the Weibull shape parameter β for these antibiotics were over and excluded 1, indicating that the antibiotics were the wear out failure type. These findings provided insights into the characteristics of antibiotic-induced agranulocytosis.

Aim: Dapagliflozin improves glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and is approved in European and Japanese patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) with inadequate glycaemic control. The objectives of this work were to characterise the dapagliflozin pharmacokinetics (PK) in patients with T1DM, assess the influence of covariates on dapagliflozin PK, and compare dapagliflozin systemic exposure between patients with T1DM and T2DM. Methods: Population PK analysis was performed using a non-linear mixed-effect modelling approach. The analysis included 5,793 dapagliflozin plasma concentrations from 1,150 adult patients with T1DM, collected from one phase 2 (NCT01498185) and two phase 3 studies (DEPICT-1, NCT02268214; DEPICT-2, NCT02460978). Covariate effects were investigated using stepwise covariate modelling. Model-derived area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) was compared with AUC in patients with T2DM. Results: The final two-compartmental model adequately described the dapagliflozin concentrations in patients with T1DM. The estimated apparent clearance was 20.5 L/h. Model-predicted systemic exposure for 5 mg and 10 mg of dapagliflozin indicated dose-proportionality and was comparable between patients with T1DM and T2DM. The identified covariate relationships showed that patients with better renal function (measured as estimated glomerular filtration rate), males, and heavier patients had lower dapagliflozin systemic exposure. Among the covariates studied, no covariates affected dapagliflozin systemic exposure to a clinically relevant extent. Conclusions: Dapagliflozin PK in patients with T1DM was adequately described by the population PK model and no clinically relevant covariates were identified. Dapagliflozin systemic exposure was comparable between patients with T1DM and T2DM. NCT01498185, NCT02268214, NCT02460978

Aim The study aim is the validation of two algorithms of Limited Sampling Strategy (LSS) for the quantification of Mycophenolic Acid (MPA) Area under the plasma concentration-time curve from 0 to 12h (AUC0-12h) in a cohort of non-selected Heart Transplant (HTx) recipients treated, as standard clinical practice, with Mycophenolate Mofetil (MMF) combined with Cyclosporine (CsA), or Tacrolimus (TAC). These two LSSs were previously tested and validated by Baraldo et al. in a cohort of selected HTx recipients 1,2. The value of MPA AUC0-12h (real and estimated with LSSs) among non-rejected (NR) and rejected (R) patients were evaluated. Methods Linear regression and Bland Altman Analysis validated two LSSs methods (named LSS3 and LSS4 by number of blood samples used). The value of MPA AUC0-12h between NR and R patients were compared by Mann-Whitney test. Results The validation reports positive results for LSS3 and LSS4 according to linear regression (r=0.91 and 0.94 and R2=0.84 and 0.88, respectively) and Bland Altman Analysis (p=0.04 and 0.04). There was a difference of borderline statistically significance (p=0.06) for the median value of MPA AUC0-12h (mg×h/L) between NR and R patients (46.60; Interquartile Range (IQR): 34.80-64.10 vs 33.70; IQR: 23.60-48.25); whereas the difference was statistically significant for both LSS3 and LSS4 (p=0.03 and 0.04). Conclusion The capability of these two LSSs to estimate MPA AUC0-12h in cohort of non-selected HTx recipients and the suggestion of a significant difference on MPA AUC0-12h between NR and R patients, confirm the importance of MPA quantification in the clinical field.

Approval of direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs) for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) was an important milestone, providing widened treatment choices along with the possibility for inter-drug switching after initiation. In addition to improved utilisation of oral anticoagulants (OACs) for stroke prevention, reports of switching among OACs are growing in the literature. Switching may influence clinical outcomes, healthcare costs and patient satisfaction. This review aimed to summarise the current literature on the pattern of OAC switching in patients with AF, including reasons for switching and clinical consequences following switching. We included articles published after 2013, following the introduction of apixaban; searched on June 27, 2020 from PubMed, Scopus and Embase. The review found that switching among OACs was common in clinical practice, significantly varying with the type of OAC. Studies reporting the reason for switching and clinical outcomes were comparatively limited. The reasons were often related to safety issues, poor anticoagulation control and ease of use. Factors that can increase the risk of bleeding and stroke were found to be associated with switching from vitamin K antagonists, but less for DOAC switching. Findings regarding bleeding outcomes following switching were inconsistent, possibly confounded with the type of OAC, reasons for switching and switching protocol. Despite the limited number of studies included and their relatively short follow-up periods, our review revealed that switching had minimal impact on stroke and other related thrombotic outcomes. Further prospective studies are needed to better understand possible reasons for switching and its influence on clinical outcomes.

Aim Antimicrobial resistance is an evolving phenomenon with alarming public health consequences. Antibiotic cycling is a widely known antimicrobial stewardship initiative which encompasses periodical shifts in empirical treatment protocols with the aim to limit selective pressures on bacterial populations. Nonetheless, mathematical models have challenged its presumable efficacy by favouring a higher heterogeneity in antibiotic administration. We present a review of the evidence regarding the actual impact of antimicrobial cycling on bacterial resistance control within hospitals. Methods A systematic literature review was conducted using the PubMed/MedLine, Embase, CINAHL Plus and Global Health databases. Results A systematic search process retrieved a sole randomised study, and so we broadened inclusion criteria to encompass quasi-experimental designs. Fifteen studies formed our dataset including seven prospective trials and eight before-and-after studies. Nine studies evaluated cycling versus a control group and produced conflicting results whilst three studies compared cycling with antibiotic mixing, with none of the strategies appearing superior. The rest evaluated resistance dynamics of each of the on-cycle antibiotics with contradictory findings. Research protocols differed in parameters such as the cycle length, the choice of antibiotics, the opportunity to de-escalate to narrow-spectrum agents and the measurement of indicators of collateral damage. This limited our ability to evaluate the replicability of findings and the overall policy effects. Conclusions Dearth of robust designs and standardised protocols limits our ability to reach safe conclusions. Nonetheless, in view of the available data we find no reason to believe that cycling should be expected to improve antibiotic resistance rates within hospitals.

A document by Teun van Gelder, written on Authorea.

Objectives The study was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of chronotherapy of hypertension with different medications monotherapy or a combination compared with traditional regimens Methods Three databases including PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were searched, from the inception of each database to 10 April 2020. The Review Manager 5.4 was adopted for meta-analyses and subgroup analyses. The blood pressure delta (Δ) was used as mean of differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), and the estimated effect for events estimates the 95% CIs for frequency of events. The adults with essential hypertension were treated with chronotherapy and traditional regimens. Results Twenty-eight RCTs, recruiting 1865 patients in bedtime/evening dosing and 1867 in awakening/morning dosing, were enrolled in this quantitative review. Meta-analysis showed no significant differences for overall drug-related AEs (RR=0.81, P=0.17; I2=41%), but an obvious reduction of risk for overall withdrawals (RR=0.52, P=0.005; I2=0.0%) with bedtime dosing. No statistically significant differences were noted for clinic BP and diurnal BP, but 24-hour (48-hour) BP, nocturnal BP, morning BP, and non-dippers (%) showed obvious reductions, statistically. By class, there existed different efficacy between 2 administrations, with great decrease in nocturnal BP control and changes in circadian rhythm with RAAS blockers monotherapy, but an all-day control of BP for CCBs and diuretics. With regard to a combination, no significant differences in BP management were detected and the data about beta-receptor blockers were limited. Conclusions The safety and efficacy of chronotherapy in antihypertensive drugs might be based on the classes.

Migraine is one of the most common of neurological disorders with a global prevalence of up to 15%. One in five migraineurs have frequent episodic or chronic migraine requiring prophylactic treatment. In recent years, specific pharmaceutical treatments targeting calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) signalling molecules have provided safe and effective treatments; monoclonal antibodies for prophylaxis and gepants for acute therapy. Albeit the beneficious impact of these new drugs, it is important to understand the molecular mechanisms involved to better understand migraine pathophysiology and improve the therapy. Here we describe current views on the role of the CGRP family of peptides CGRP, calcitonin (CT), adrenomedullin (AM), amylin (AMY) and their receptors in the trigeminovascular system (TGV). All these molecules are present within the TGV system but differ in expression and localization. It is likely that they have different roles, which can be utilized in providing additional drug targets.

In order to further elucidate the role of mesolimbic peptides in the expression of alcohol reward, the present study investigated the effects of ghrelin and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) on alcohol intake, in addition to alcohol intake stimulated by systemic d-amphetamine or cocaine treatment. All rats were initially habituated to a 6% alcohol solution. We then demonstrated that intraperitoneal injections of d-amphetamine and cocaine increased alcohol compared to the vehicle condition. In subsequent testing we examined the effects of ventral tegmental area (VTA) ghrelin or vehicle paired with a fixed dose of d-amphetamine or vehicle. In separate rats we then investigated the impact of the GLP-1 agonist exendin-4 (Ex-4), injected into the VTA, on alcohol intake alone, or when Ex-4 was co-administered with d-amphetamine or cocaine. Our results indicated that VTA ghrelin significantly increased alcohol intake, and most importantly, potentiated the effect of d-amphetamine and cocaine on alcohol consumption. Conversely, VTA Ex-4 inhibited alcohol intake and antagonized the stimulatory effect of d-amphetamine and cocaine on alcohol consumption. In a final study we further demonstrated that VTA Ex-4 treatment significantly inhibited the combined stimulatory effects of ghrelin paired with d-amphetamine or ghrelin paired with cocaine. Overall our findings are consistent with a critical role for both ghrelin and GLP-1 receptor mechanisms in mesolimbic alcohol reward circuitry. Moreover, our results further suggest that ghrelin and GLP-1 modulate the stimulatory effect of psychostimulants on alcohol intake.

A document by Emma Magavern, written on Authorea.

Anti-CD20 therapies in multiple sclerosis (MS) have become central to management of the disease since their FDA approval in 2017. As their role in MS management continues to grow, it is also increasingly important to know how such drugs can be better administered using current knowledge of how B cells repopulate after their depletion. To this end, individualizing therapy needs to be prioritized since a timed-dosing interval is perhaps not required based on evidence and it certainly is unwelcome from a financial perspective.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a myeloproliferative disorder, is caused by overactivity of BCR-ABL1 (breakpoint cluster region-Abelson) has been successfully treated by Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). While imatinib is known as the first-line treatment of CML, in some cases other TKIs including dasatinib, nilotinib, bosutinib, and ponatinib may be preferred. Dasatinib, a second-generation TKI, inhibits multiple family kinases including BCR-ABL, SRC family kinases, receptor kinases, and TEC family kinases. It is effective against most imatinib-resistant cases except T315I mutation. Despite the superiority of dasatinib in CML hematologic and cytogenetic responses compared to imatinib, its potentially harmful pulmonary complications including pleural effusion (PE) and pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) may limit its use. Appropriate management of these serious adverse reactions is critical in both improving the quality of life and outcome of patients. In this narrative review, we will scrutinize the pulmonary complications of dasatinib and focus on the management of these toxicities.

Aim: The Norwegian Association for Clinical Pharmacology in their National Guidelines decreased therapeutic range (TR) of topiramate (TPM) from 5-20 mg/L to 2-10 mg/L. The objective of this study is to ascertain which TR produces better clinical outcomes. Methods: Data source were request forms for routine therapeutic drug monitoring of TPM. Concentration dependent adverse drug reactions (ADRs) were evaluated in 1,721 samples taken pre-dose. Seizure frequency analysis was performed in 294 samples of monotherapy. Statistics: Prism 5.0, GraphPad Instatt: Mann–Whitney U test for median plasma level (PL). χ2-test for seizure frequency and for distribution of PL according to TR 5-20 mg/L and intervals <2, 2-5, 5-10, 10-20, >20 mg/L. Results: Better seizure control was found in children both in whole cohort (without seizure 49% vs 37% adults), as well as in monotherapy (56% vs 44%), in children with PL 5-20 mg/L vs 5 mg/L (65% vs 44%) and in children with PL 5-10 mg/L vs <2 mg/L. Seizure-free children had higher PL than those with seizure yearly: median (lower, upper quartile) [mg/L]: 5.5 (3.4-6.5) vs 4.7 (4.3-7.95). No difference was found in adults. Seizure control was poorer in all patients with PL <2 mg/L compared to 5-10 mg/L; and 10-20 mg/L; further in PL within 5-10 mg/L vs 10-20 mg/L; and in the period 2003-2005. ADRs reported in 38 samples (2.8%) were without relation to PL. Conclusions: Change of TR is not recommended.

Pharmaceutical industry and drugs advertisement is sometimes accused of “creating diseases”. This article assesses and describes the role of that industry in fostering medicalization. First, the notions of medicalization and pharmaceuticalization are defined. Then, the problem of distinguishing between harmful overmedicalization and well-founded medicalization is presented. Next, the phenomenon of disease mongering is explained and illustrated by the case analysis of medicalizing pain and suffering in three contexts: 1) the general idea of medicalizing physical pain, 2) the medicalization of grief, and 3) disease mongering of pseudoaddiction - a condition promoted in order to increase the demand for opioid pain relievers.