Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019158 (hepatitis)
 30,205 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Ranitidine was first marketed in 1981; since then many patients have been treated such that much experience has been accumulated on the safety of this histamine H2-receptor antagonist in the treatment of gastroduodenal disease. A wide array of ranitidine-associated side effects has been described, but infrequently. As so much information is now available, the aim of this review is to assess the weight of evidence for a causal link between ranitidine and the reported side effects. Overall, ranitidine is well tolerated. The incidence of general side effects at less than 2% is very similar to placebo. Headaches, tiredness, dizziness and mild gastrointestinal disturbance (e.g. diarrhoea, constipation and nausea) are among the most frequent complaints, but have very seldom resulted in stopping treatment. Cardiovascular side effects are extremely rare and unpredictable with the usual doses of oral ranitidine (at most 1 in 1 million patients). They mostly comprise sinusal bradycardia and atrioventricular blockade, especially after rapid intravenous administration, receding after cessation of the drug. Clinical studies, however, have not shown a significant pharmacological effect of ranitidine on the cardiovascular system via H2-receptors, even though individual sensitivities cannot be ruled out in a few isolated reports. Ranitidine is unlikely to be directly hepatotoxic: a transient change in liver function tests has been noted in only 1 in 100 to 1 in 1000 patients. Several cases of mixed hepatitis have been reported, but very few were fully documented. The incidence of ranitidine-associated acute hepatitis has been estimated to be less than 1 in 100,000 patients. Neuropsychiatric complications may be less common and clinically quite similar to those reported with cimetidine, i.e. confusion, disorientation, hallucinations, delirium. These side effects have occurred especially in critically ill and multiple-therapy patients, or patients with chronic renal or hepatic failure, so that the direct causal link with ranitidine treatment was often difficult to ascertain. Even though an H2-receptor-mediated effect is an attractive hypothesis (since similar complications were noted with other H2-receptor antagonists), other mechanisms have been suggested to play a role, e.g. cholinergic or histaminic effects. The overall incidence of neuropsychiatric complications is probably markedly less than 1%. White cell injury (i.e. agranulocytosis) appears to be the most frequent haematological complication, even though case reports are very few and poorly documented.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
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PMID:Side effects of ranitidine. 204 87

We present the case of a worker who was accidentally exposed (inhalational and dermal routes) to the chemicals dimethylacetamide and ethylenediamine for 90 minutes in a confined space. Clinical effects included delirium, hallucinations, skin burns, cellulitis, bilateral conjunctivitis, hepatitis, secondary coagulopathy, rhabdomyolysis, and a grade 2 esophagitis. Urinary monomethylacetamide levels 6 days after the exposure were 61 ppm.
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PMID:Toxicity associated with severe inhalational and dermal exposure to dimethylacetamide and 1,2-ethanediamine. 807 26

In 1992, the Netherlands Centre for Monitoring of Adverse Reactions to Drugs received 1248 reports of suspected adverse reactions. The most important reports concerned chest pain to sumatriptan, cholestatic hepatitis to itraconazole and taste loss to terbinafine. Other important reports pertained to confusion and hallucinations in children on deptropine, postasphyctic encephalopathy of a newborn after intrapartum administration of nalbuphine, torsades de pointes to terodiline, fever to neuroleptics, muscle necrosis to intramuscular administration of diclofenac, gout during use of acetylsalicylic acid, psychic effects of vigabatrine and sudden death during fluorescence angiography. It is the policy of the Netherlands centre to publish as many relevant reports as possible in order to facilitate medical practitioners to adapt their pharmacotherapeutic choice. In close collaboration with several universities, the Netherlands centre currently develops systems and methods for postmarketing surveillance.
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PMID:[Recording of possible side effects in the Bureau for Side Effects of Drugs and research activities in 1992]. 837 25

We reported a case of reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome (RPLS) that occurred during cyclosporin A (CyA) therapy for fulminant hepatitis. A 22-year-old man was given an intravenous drip of interferon-beta, metylprednisolone sodium succinate and CyA, and also received plasma exchange and hemodiafiltration. On the 7th day of the intravenous CyA therapy, in which its dose had been increased from 60 mg/day to 84 mg/day, he became somnolent and had headache, double vision, hallucination and then a generalized tonic-clonic seizure. The blood CyA concentration increased to a level as high as 455 ng/ml. Brain computed tomography (CT) scan without contrast medium revealed symmetric low-density areas in the bilateral occipital white matter and partly in the cortex. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed an increased signal intensity, and single-photon emission CT using 99 mTc showed a hypoperfusion of cerebral blood flow in those areas. After CyA administration was changed to 100 mg/day orally to decrease its uptake in the blood, his consciousness and vision recovered within 4 weeks. Then abnormalities in MRI findings completely disappeared. On the basis of the clinical course and time-sequential change of serum CyA level in this patient, he was diagnosed as having RPLS caused by CyA therapy. Recently, the number of cases of RPLS has increased in the Western countries. However, there are few reports of RPLS after CyA therapy in Japan. From this case, we emphasize that careful following up the patient's neurological findings during CyA therapy is very important and that a cranial MRI is an essential tool for the diagnosis of RPLS.
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PMID:[Reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy in a patient receiving cyclosporin therapy]. 1039 Oct 82

When peripheral decarboxylation is blocked by carbidopa or benserazide, the main metabolic pathway of levodopa is O-methylation by catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). Entacapone and tolcapone are new potent, selective and reversible nitrocatechol-type COMT inhibitors. Animal studies have demonstrated that entacapone mainly has a peripheral effect whereas tolcapone also inhibits O-methylation in the brain. In human volunteers, both entacapone and tolcapone dose-dependently inhibit the COMT activity in erythrocytes, improve the bioavailability and decrease the elimination of levodopa, and inhibit the formation of 3-O-methyldopa (3-OMD). Entacapone is administered with every scheduled dose of levodopa whereas tolcapone is administered 3 times daily. The different administration regimens for these agents are based on their different pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles. Both entacapone and tolcapone enhance and extend the therapeutic effect of levodopa in patients with advanced and fluctuating Parkinson's disease. They prolong the duration of levodopa effect. Clinical studies show that they increase the daily ON time by an average 1 to 3 hours, improve the activities of daily living and allow daily levodopa dosage to be decreased. Correspondingly, they significantly reduce the daily OFF time. No comparative studies between entacapone and tolcapone have been performed. Tolcapone also appears to have a beneficial effect in patients with nonfluctuating Parkinson's disease. The main adverse effects of the COMT inhibitors are related to their dopaminergic and gastrointestinal effects. Enhancement of dopaminergic activity may cause an initial worsening of levodopa-induced adverse effects, such as dyskinesia, nausea, vomiting, orthostatic hypotension, sleep disorders and hallucinations. Levodopa dose adjustment is recommended to avoid these events. Tolcapone is associated with diarrhoea in about 16 to 18% of patients and entacapone in less than 10% of patients. Diarrhoea has led to discontinuation in 5 to 6% of patients treated with tolcapone and in 2.5% of those treated with entacapone. Urine discoloration to dark yellow or orange is related to the colour of COMT inhibitors and their metabolites. Elevated liver transaminase levels are reported in 1 to 3% of patients treated with tolcapone but very rarely, if at all, in patients treated with entacapone. The descriptions of acute, fatal fulminant hepatitis and potentially fatal neurological reactions, such as neuroleptic malignant syndrome and rhabdomyolysis, in association with tolcapone led to the suspension of its marketing authorisation in the European Community and Canada. In many other countries, the use of tolcapone is restricted to patients who are not responding satisfactorily to other therapies. Regular monitoring of liver enzymes is required if tolcapone is used. No such adverse reactions have so far been described for entacapone and no laboratory monitoring has been proposed. COMT inhibitors added to levodopa therapy are beneficial, particularly in patients with fluctuating disease. They may be combined with other antiparkinsonian drugs, such as dopamine agonists, selegiline and anticholinergics without adverse interactions. They provide a new treatment possibility in patients with Parkinson's disease who have problems with their present levodopa therapy.
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PMID:Clinical pharmacology, therapeutic use and potential of COMT inhibitors in Parkinson's disease. 1088 60

Plants have been used since ancient times to cure certain infectious diseases, and some of them are now standard treatments for several diseases. Due to the side effects and resistance of pathogenic microorganisms to antibiotics and most drugs on the market, a great deal of attention has been paid to extracts and biologically active compounds isolated from plant species used in herbal medicine. Artemisia absinthium is an important perennial shrubby plant that has been widely used for the treatment of several ailments. Traditionally, A. absinthium has always been of pharmaceutical and botanical importance and used to manage several disorders including hepatocyte enlargement, hepatitis, gastritis, jaundice, wound healing, splenomegaly, dyspepsia, indigestion, flatulence, gastric pain, anemia, and anorexia. It has also been documented to possess antioxidant, antifungal, antimicrobial, anthelmintic, anti-ulcer, anticarcinogenic, hepatoprotective, neuroprotective, antidepressant, analgesic, immunomodulatory, and cytotoxic activity. Long-term use of A. absinthium essential oil may cause toxic and mental disorders in humans with clinical manifestations including convulsions, sleeplessness, and hallucinations. Combination chemotherapies of artemisia extract or its isolated active constituents with the currently available antibabesial or anti-malarial drugs are now documented to relieve malaria and piroplasmosis infections. The current review examines the phytoconstituents, toxic and biological activities of A. absinthium.
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PMID:Bioactive Compounds, Pharmacological Actions, and Pharmacokinetics of Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium). 3258 87