Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0042963 (vomiting)
 31,883 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sulfiram, a drug applied topically to treat scabies, produces effects similar to those of disulfiram after subsequent ingestion of ethanol. Disulfiram, used in aversion therapy in the treatment of alcoholism, inhibits hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) causing an accumulation of acetaldehyde after ethanol ingestion. The increased tissue levels of acetaldehyde cause a spectrum of undesirable side-effects including flushing, nausea, vomiting, and tachycardia, which are referred to as the disulfiram reaction. Previous studies have shown that in vitro sulfiram is a very weak inhibitor of ALDH, but solutions of sulfiram markedly increase in potency with time. In the present study, fresh solutions of sulfiram were exposed to fluorescent room light under ambient conditions and analyzed at timed intervals by HPLC. At least eight products, including disulfiram, were formed in the light-exposed sulfiram solutions, but not in solutions kept in the dark. Structural characterization of two of the photolysis products was obtained by on-line microbore HPLC-mass spectrometry (mu LC-MS) and on-line microbore HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (mu LC-MS/MS) using continuous flow-liquid secondary ion mass spectrometry (CF-LSIMS) as the primary ionization method. Sulfiram was converted to disulfiram at an initial rate of 0.7%/hr, and the formation of disulfiram correlated with the increase in ALDH inhibition in vitro. The results of this investigation show that while sulfiram is a weak inhibitor of ALDH in vitro, it is readily photoconverted to disulfiram, a very potent inhibitor of ALDH, which may explain the adverse reaction to ethanol after sulfiram therapy.
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PMID:Photolysis of sulfiram: a mechanism for its disulfiram-like reaction. 798 3

Ethanol-induced emesis were investigated using Suncus murinus and the emetogenic mechanisms of ethanol were compared with those of cisplatin. Intraperitoneal injection of ethanol caused dose-dependent emesis with ED50 value of 22.3% (v/v) when injection volume was adjusted to 4 ml/kg. Intraperitoneal and subcutaneous injection of acetaldehyde also caused dose-dependent emesis (ED50 = 3.5% (v/v) with an extremely shorter latency (6% i.p.: 1.0 +/- 0.3 min cf. 40% ethanol: 13.0 +/- 1.9 min). Neither ethanol nor acetaldehyde caused emetic responses when injected intracerebroventricularly. Pretreatment with disulfiram, an inhibitor of liver aldehyde dehydrogenase, potentiated the emetogenic effects of ethanol. Surgical abdominal vagotomy, which blocks cisplatin-induced emesis completely, did not prevent ethanol-induced emesis. 5-HT3 receptor antagonists, which also cause complete inhibition of cisplatin-induced emesis, did not affect the responses. However, ethanol-induced emesis was prevented by the pretreatment with 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetrarin hydrobromide (8-OH-DPAT) and N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine (MPG) dose-dependently. The tackykinin NK1 receptor antagonist (+)-(2S, 3S)-3-(2-methoxybenzylamino)-2-phenyl-piperidine (CP-99,994) also attenuated ethanol-induced emesis. Taken together, these results suggest that 1) acetaldehyde is probably responsible for ethanol-induced emesis, 2) active site for ethanol maybe peripheral, 3) ethanol-induced emesis is mediated by free radicals, and 4) mechanism of ethanol-induced emesis and that caused by cisplatin are different in many respects, although in some they are similar and that the precise pathways remain to be identified. Therefore, the tolerance to emetogenic effects of cisplatin in alcoholic patients cannot be explained as a simple cross desensitization of the pathway.
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PMID:Ethanol-induced emesis in the house musk shrew, Suncus murinus. 901 Apr 80

Disulfiram is used in alcohol rehabilitation because it inhibits aldehyde dehydrogenase and consequently causes the disulfiram-ethanol reaction (vomiting, vertigo, anxiety, cardiovascular effects) after ingestion of alcoholic beverages. However, adverse effects on the central nervous system (for the most part psychotic reactions, acute organic brain syndrome, catatonia) may appear as a direct result of the drug itself. Disulfiram and its metabolite carbon disulfide inhibit dopamine beta-hydroxylase, increasing the levels of dopamine and reducing those of norepinephrine in the central nervous system. We observed direct disulfiram-induced toxicity on the central nervous system in 8 abstinent patients in whom a disulfiram-ethanol reaction had been excluded. Risk is increased when 1) excessive amounts of the drug are ingested; 2) the patient is already suffering from a major psychiatric illness; 3) the patient has anatomical brain lesions. In all cases observed, the toxic effects appeared in the first weeks and were reversed after suspension of the drug (except in one patient who died from severe bronchopulmonary infection). We thus suggest the following protocol: 1) physical examination and interview 3-4 weeks after initiation of treatment; 2) as a general rule, in abstinent patients, the lowest possible maintenance dosage should be administered. This strategy, despite the risk of underdosage, meets the goals inherent in an integrated medical and psychosocial approach to the treatment of alcoholism with which these patients seem better able to comply.
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PMID:[Collateral effects of disulfiram on the central nervous system in alcoholics that have become totally abstemious. Description of 8 cases]. 907 70

Hydrogen cyanamide is used in agriculture as a plant growth regulator and is applied to many deciduous plants to stimulate uniform budbreak after dormancy, resulting in uniform flowering and maturity. Hydrogen cyanamide is highly toxic, and adverse health effects from contact include severe irritation and ulceration of the eyes, skin, and respiratory tract. The substance also inhibits aldehyde dehydrogenase and can produce acetaldehyde syndrome (e.g., vomiting, parasympathetic hyperactivity, dyspnea, hypotension, and confusion) when exposure coincides with alcohol use. After Dormex (Degussa AG, Trostberg, Germany), a pesticide product containing hydrogen cyanamide (49% by weight), was introduced in Italy in 2000, a total of 23 cases of acute illness associated with exposure to this chemical were identified in early 2001. This led to a temporary suspension of sales and usage of Dormex on February 23, 2002, and strengthening of protective measures, as specified on the pesticide label when sales were resumed on June 20, 2003. This report describes 28 additional cases of hydrogen cyanamide-related illness that occurred during 2002-2004, 14 of which occurred after sales resumed. These illnesses suggest that the preventive measures adopted in Italy in 2003 to protect workers using hydrogen cyanamide are inadequate. Workers exposed to hydrogen cyanamide should be provided adequate information, training, personal protective equipment (PPE), and engineering controls.
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PMID:Update: hydrogen cyanamide-related illnesses--Italy, 2002-2004. 1585 60

Disulfiram treatment for alcohol dependence is used with acceptable outcomes. By inhibiting the aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme, this treatment increases acetaldehyde concentration after the ingestion of alcohol causing an unpleasant disulfiram-alcohol reaction. Typical symptoms include flushing, headache, nausea, vomiting, sweating, vertigo, and lightheadedness. However, there have also been descriptions of more serious reactions including severe hypotension, arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular collapse. We report a patient with a severe disulfiram-alcohol reaction marked by flushing, confusion, generalized malaise, epigastric pain, and hypotension. Cardiac biomarker and electrocardiographic changes were suggestive of non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). Left heart catheterization showed no angiographic evidence of coronary artery disease. Because of the frequency of alcohol dependence and its treatment with disulfiram, it is critical for physicians to be aware of these types of life-threatening complications.
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PMID:Disulfiram--alcohol reaction mimicking an acute coronary syndrome. 2474 56