Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In 1982, the fixed combination of pyrimethamine and sulfadoxine (Fansidar) became available in the United States, and was recommended for use in travelers at risk of acquiring chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum. Prior to that time, no reports of severe cutaneous reactions had appeared in the medical literature despite widespread use for more than 8 years in both Europe and malarious areas of the developing world. In the fall of 1984, the Centers for Disease Control received reports of 4 cases of toxic epidermal necrolysis (including 3 fatalities) among Americans who had used pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (PYR/SDX) for the prevention of malaria. Subsequent investigation into severe cutaneous reactions associated with the use of this drug by American travelers detected 24 cases of erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, or toxic epidermal necrolysis. Twenty-three of the 24 patients concurrently used chloroquine. Seven patients died. No risk factors in the development of these reactions other than the use of PYR/SDX could be identified. Among American travelers, we estimate that these reactions occur in 1 per 5,000-8,000 users, and that fatal reactions occur in 1 per 11,000-25,000 users. This higher than expected incidence necessitates that the use of PYR/SDX for the prevention of malaria be reconsidered. In the United States it is now recommended that the routine weekly use of the drug be reserved for those travelers at highest risk of acquiring chloroquine-resistant P. falciparum, when alternate prophylactic regimens are not deemed appropriate.
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PMID:Severe cutaneous reactions among American travelers using pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (Fansidar) for malaria prophylaxis. 293 35

The currently recognized toxic effects of quinine in humans are identified and the problems of management of overdosage of quinine are discussed. Quinine, available therapeutically as sulphate or hydrochloride salts, also is widely used in tonic water, and there are several case reports of allergic reactions to the drug when a patient has consumed the drug in this way. Another unintentional source of poisoning is its use as an adulterant in heroin for "street" use. This appears to be a problem in the US. Quinine, termed a "general protoplasmic poison" is toxic to many bacteria, yeasts, and trypanosomes, as well as to malarial plasmodia. Quinine has local anesthetic action but also is an irritant. The irritant effects may be responsible in part for the nausea associated with its clinical use. In addition it has a mild antipyretic effect. Several features are common to both an acute single overdose in self-poisoning and accumulation of quinine during therapy for malaria: together they are termed cinchonism. Auditory symptoms, gastrointestinal disturbances, vasodilatation, sweating, and headache occur with moderately elevated plasma quinine concentration. As these rise, increasingly severe visual disturbances and then cardiac and neurologic features occur. Mild nausea may be the only symptom, but with large overdoses profuse vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea may occur. These result from a combination of the local irritant effect of quinine on the gut and the central effects of quinine on the chemoreceptor trigger zone. Vasodilatation and sweating are well recognized, and tinnitus is common. Visual symptoms usually are delayed, and blindness may not be discovered for a day or more. Aspirin-sensitive patients, and others, may develop angioedema by nonimmunological mechanisms in response to drugs, and quinine has been reported to produce pseudo-allergic reactions in aspirin-sensitive patients. Quinine also can cause drug-induced thrombocytopenia and purpura. In patients suffering with malaria due to "Plasmodium falciparum," anemia and acute intravascular hemolysis with renal failure are recognized complications. There appears to be little evidence in the literature in support of the folk tradition of quinine as an inducer of abortion. Quinine is known to cause deterioration in patients with myasthenia gravis and erythema multiforme, to stimulate insulin release in patients receiving treatment for falicparum malaria, and to be responsible at times for ataxia following moderate overdosage. Clinically, quinine poisoning is observed in 3 situations: self-poisoning; accidentally; and following use of quinine in excessive doses in the hope of achieving abortion. Treatment courses are reviewed.
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PMID:Quinine toxicity. 354 70

The widespread emergence of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum led to the formulation of an effective, fixed combination of two antimalarial agents, pyrimethamine and the long-acting sulfonamide sulfadoxine, for prophylaxis and treatment. These drugs act at sequential steps to inhibit the formation of tetrahydrofolate in the parasite. Recently, their use for malaria prophylaxis has been associated with severe, at times fatal, cutaneous reactions including erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and toxic epidermal necrolysis. These reactions have necessitated a major reassessment of the indications for pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine use and increased the search for pharmacologic, immunologic and behavioral approaches to the prophylaxis and treatment of infection with P. falciparum. Pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine may be effective in preventing recurrent pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis carinii in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, but life-threatening cutaneous reactions have also been reported in this setting.
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PMID:Use of pyrimethamine-sulfadoxine (Fansidar) in prophylaxis against chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum and Pneumocystis carinii. 355 13