Concurrent administration of donepezil HCl and risperidone in patients with schizophrenia: assessment of pharmacokinetic changes and safety following multiple oral doses.

Aim: This open-label, multiple-dose trial investigated the effect of concurrent administration of donepezil HCl with risperidone on the pharmacokinetics (PK) and safety profiles of both drugs.

Methods: Sixteen male patients with schizophrenia, who were receiving stable, physician-optimized risperidone (1-4 mg twice daily), and 15 healthy age- and weight-matched male controls, received donepezil HCl 5 mg daily for 7 days. Patients with schizophrenia remained on their physician-optimized dose of risperidone throughout the study.

Concurrent administration of donepezil HCl and levodopa/carbidopa in patients with Parkinson's disease: assessment of pharmacokinetic changes and safety following multiple oral doses.

Aim: The use of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors for the treatment of comorbid Alzheimer's disease in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients stabilized on a levodopa regimen may potentially disrupt cholinergic balance. This randomized, double-blind, crossover study investigated the safety of, and possible drug-drug interaction between, donepezil HCl and levodopa/carbidopa.

Methods: Twenty-five patients with PD who were taking physician-optimized doses of levodopa/carbidopa (with daytime dosing intervals of 4-8 h) were administered once-daily doses of either donepezil HCl (5 mg) or placebo for 15 days, in two treatment periods, separated by a washout of at least 2 weeks.

Concurrent administration of donepezil HCl and sertraline HCl in healthy volunteers: assessment of pharmacokinetic changes and safety following single and multiple oral doses.

Aim: This study evaluated the safety and pharmacokinetics (PK) of donepezil HCl and sertraline HCl when administered separately and in combination.

Methods: This was a randomized, open-label, three-period crossover study. In consecutive dosing periods separated by washout periods of > or = 3 weeks, healthy volunteers received either oral donepezil HCI 5 mg once daily for 15 days, oral sertraline HCl 50 mg once daily for 5 days followed by 10 days of once-daily sertraline HCl 100 mg, or the simultaneous administration of oral donepezil HCl and sertraline HCl.

Steady-state pharmacokinetics and safety of donepezil HCl in subjects with moderately impaired renal function.

Aims: To characterize the pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic and safety profiles of donepezil in subjects with moderate renal impairment and matched healthy controls during single-dose and multiple-dose phases.

Methods: This open-label study enrolled subjects with moderate renal impairment (creatinine clearance [CL(Cr)] 17-33 ml min(-1) 1.73 m(-2) body surface area) and age, weight and sex-matched healthy controls.

Steady-state pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and tolerability of donepezil hydrochloride in hepatically impaired patients.

Aims: To evaluate the pharmacokinetics (PK), pharmacodynamics (PD), tolerability and safety of donepezil HCl 5 mg following oral doses for 1 and 24 days in hepatically impaired patients compared with healthy controls under steady-state, multiple-dose conditions.

Methods: In this single-centre, multiple-dose, open-label study, patients with impaired hepatic function (Child-Pugh grade A or B) and healthy controls (matched by gender, age and weight to the hepatically impaired patients) received a single 5 mg dose of donepezil on day 1 and then donepezil HCl 5 mg once daily from days 6 to 29. PK and PD (determination of erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase inhibition) parameters were evaluated on days 1 and 29.

Pharmacokinetics and dose proportionality of extended-release metformin following administration of 1000, 1500, 2000 and 2500 mg in healthy volunteers.

The pharmacokinetics and dose-exposure relationship of an extended-release formulation of metformin (ER-metformin) was investigated in a randomized, single-dose, four-period crossover study in 24 healthy male volunteers. During each study period, subjects received a randomly assigned dose containing 1000, 1500, 2000 or 2500 mg metformin. Blood samples were drawn 0-72 h after dosing for pharmacokinetic and dose-proportionality assessment.

Plasma Concentrations Following Application of Whole versus Cut Transdermal Clonidine Patches To Critically Ill Children.

Clonidine is used for hypertension and narcotic withdrawal prophylaxis in adults and children. This study described plasma absorption of clonidine from whole and cut transdermal clonidine patches. This was a retrospective descriptive study in an 18 bed multidisciplinary pediatric intensive care unit, evaluating 15 critically ill children with a median age of 1.

A model of determining a fair market value for teaching residents: who profits?

Context: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Health Resources and Services Administration Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical Education (GME) Payment Program now supports freestanding children's teaching hospitals.

Objective: To analyze the fair market value impact of GME payment on resident teaching efforts in our pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Design: Cost-accounting model, developed from a 1-year retrospective, descriptive, single-institution, longitudinal study, applied to physician teachers, residents, and CMS.

Pharmacological concentrations of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor lovastatin decrease the formation of the Alzheimer beta-amyloid peptide in vitro and in patients.

Epidemiological studies demonstrate that hypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). As the generation and accumulation of the beta-amyloid peptide (Abeta) in the brain appears to be significant for the initiation and progression of AD, it is possible that cholesterol levels regulate Abeta formation and/or clearance. To test the effects of altering cholesterol on Abeta formation, we incubated cells with or without lovastatin acid, the active metabolite of the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor lovastatin, and measured the fraction of Abeta formed from its precursor under each condition.