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Biomedical subjects

G G Ryerson

Publications and source records attributed to G G Ryerson.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

Almitrine bismesylate.

Almitrine bismesylate is a pharmacologically unique respiratory stimulant. It enhances respiration after both acute and chronic administration by acting as an agonist of peripheral chemoreceptors located on the carotid bodies. In comparison with traditional central-acting respiratory stimulants, almitrine has advantages of oral activity, prolonged duration of effect, and an improved adverse effect profile. Almitrine is generally well tolerated, with headache and minor gastrointestinal disturbances being the most frequently observed side effects. This investigational agent has been shown to increase arterial oxygen tension while decreasing arterial carbon dioxide tension in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease both at rest and during exercise through increased ventilation and improved ventilation/perfusion matching. It may also prove useful in the treatment of nocturnal oxygen desaturation because of its ability to reduce the frequency and severity of nocturnal hypoxemia without impairing the quality of sleep. Additional research is needed to further define the role of almitrine in the relief of hypoxemia.

Adult↗

Evaluation of tetracycline on theophylline disposition in patients with chronic obstructive airways disease.

Theophylline is a commonly used bronchodilator in the treatment of chronic obstructive airways disease (COAD) with a narrow therapeutic range of 10 to 20 micrograms/ml. Patients with COAD frequently receive concomitant antibiotic therapy for respiratory infections. This study evaluated the effect of tetracycline therapy on theophylline disposition in adults with COAD. Six males (five nonsmokers) with obstructive ventilatory defects were studied in two phases: control, after receiving sustained-release theophylline in the same dosage regimen for four days, and treatment, after receiving tetracycline 250 mg po qid for five days in addition to theophylline. During each phase, 10 blood samples were obtained over one dosing interval and analyzed for theophylline content. The following pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated: Cmin, Cmax, Css, percentage fluctuation and Cl. Differences for each value were tested as paired data with Student's two-tailed t-test. When all patients were evaluated, the only statistically significant difference was for Cmax. However, when the five nonsmokers were evaluated separately, differences were observed for Css (micrograms/ml; mean +/- SD) 9.3 +/- 3.0, control, and 10.6 +/- 3.8, treatment (p = 0.041); and for Cl [( ml/h]/kg; mean +/- SD) 49.0 +/- 11.1, control, and 43.6 +/- 10.2, treatment (p = 0.019). This study demonstrates that tetracycline may weakly inhibit theophylline clearance in nonsmoking adults with COAD.

Adult↗

Legionnaires' disease. A sporadic case.

A patient with Legionnaires' disease developed consolidated pneumonia with severe hypoxemia and mental confusion; his condition improved with therapy with positive end-expiratory pressure, steroids, and chloramphenicol. The retrospective diagnosis was made by a fourfold rise in indirect fluorescent antibody titers. The chest x-ray films showed bilateral alveolar infiltrates and air bronchograms.

Adult↗

Conversion from intravenous aminophylline to sustained-release theophylline: computer simulation versus in vivo results.

The accuracy of computer-predicted theophylline serum concentrations compared with actual serum concentrations in patients whose drug therapy was being converted from aminophylline infusions to an oral sustained-release theophylline product (Theo-Dur) was measured. The SIMKIN computer program was used to simulate theophylline serum-concentration curves in nine patients receiving an initial dose of sustained-release theophylline at the time their maintenance aminophylline infusions were discontinued. The sustained-release theophylline doses were calculated using individual patient theophylline clearance values to produce mean theophylline serum concentrations in the normal therapeutic range. Pharmacokinetic variables used in the SIMKIN program were derived from individual patients' serum concentrations and average literature values. Theophylline serum concentrations were measured before the initial dose of the sustained-release product and periodically for 12 hours. Mean SIMKIN-predicted serum theophylline concentrations were within 10% of actual measurements 39% of the time, but data from individual patients varied considerably. Two patients had prolonged absorption lag times that could not be explained. Computer-simulation programs using population-based pharmacokinetic variables to predict theophylline serum concentrations must be tested against in vivo measurements to verify their accuracy.

Adult↗