Drug Metabolism News and Research

RSS

Genetic analysis of opioid-induced hyperalgesia

In findings published in Nature Biotechnology (May 2006, vol. 24 No. 5), Roche scientists present a new method for analyzing the metabolism of a commonly prescribed drug.

10 May 2006

ICG value accurately predicts outcomes in adult living-donor liver transplantation

A new study on identifying which patients were likely to have poor outcomes following a living-donor liver transplant (LDLT) found that measuring how a certain non-toxic dye was eliminated by the liver shortly after surgery was an accurate indicator of liver function, and therefore a reliable indicator of the outcome of the procedure.

4 Apr 2006

Thalidomide, Lenalidomide show promise against Lou Gehrig's disease

New animal research suggests that two well-studied drugs, thalidomide and its derivative, lenalidomide, might extend the survival of patients with the neurological disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

9 Mar 2006

Significant step forward in the genome era

In what promises to be a significant step forward in the genome era, the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) today announced plans to devote a portion of its large-scale sequencing capacity to efforts aimed at identifying the genetic roots of specific diseases that have long eluded gene hunters.

17 Oct 2005

Why breast black cancer patients experience lower survival rates than other women

Black women with stage I or II breast cancer are more likely than their counterparts of other races to abandon chemotherapy before completing their full course of treatment, according to a recent Columbia University Medical Center study.

12 Oct 2005

Fruits and vegetables can increase or decrease the activity and toxicity of orally-administered drugs

Eating fruits and vegetables is essential to living a long and healthy life, yet research has shown they can cause dangerous interactions with medicines.

5 Oct 2005

Gene variations explain drug dose required to control seizures

Determining which variants of particular genes patients with epilepsy carry might enable doctors to better predict the dose of drugs necessary to control their seizures, suggest basic findings by researchers at the Duke University Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) and the University College London.

28 Mar 2005

New guidelines mean tailor-made drugs are on the way

Many experts believe a milestone has been reached with the issuing of guidelines for pharmaceutical companies to encourage them to gather and submit information about how genetic variations affect the way people respond to their drugs.

23 Mar 2005

St. John's wort increases effectiveness of Plavix

The widely used herbal remedy St. John's wort appears to amplify the action of the popular blood-thinning drug clopidogrel, sold as Plavix, a small new clinical study finds.

6 Mar 2005

New report detailing how animal experiments misled scientists on Vioxx

Tommorow, February 17, John J. Pippin, M.D., FA.C.C., will testify before Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials and present a new report detailing how experiments on mice, dogs, and other animals misled scientists and ultimately contributed to a tragic outcome for human patients exposed to Vioxx and other drugs.

15 Feb 2005

Understanding how microbes in the gut interact with the body could lead to new a understanding and novel treatments for diseases

Understanding how microbes in the gut interact with the body could lead scientists and doctors to new a understanding and novel treatments for diseases say scientists from Imperial College London and Astra Zeneca.

6 Oct 2004

Ephedra substitute - Seville orange may have risks

People taking “ephedra-free” weight loss products that contain the herb Citrus aurantium, or Seville orange, may be doing more harm to their body than good, according to a new review published by Georgetown University Medical Center researchers.

27 Aug 2004

Chemotherapy regimen more effective and more toxic in Japanese patients than in American patients

A chemotherapy regimen commonly used to treat non-small cell lung cancer is both more effective and more toxic in Japanese patients than in American patients, researchers reported Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncologists.

7 Jun 2004

Gene of immune system linked to severe adverse drug reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)

In a study of Han Chinese patients, researchers have for the first time directly linked a gene of the immune system to a severe adverse drug reaction called Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), according to a Duke University Medical Center medical geneticist and collaborators in Taiwan.

1 Apr 2004