Stability of oral liquid preparations of methylergometrine.

The stability of an oral ready to-use form of methylergometrine (0.05 mg/mL), which provides a convenient volume for administration (5 mL), was evaluated over a forty-seven-day period at different temperatures (5 degrees C and room temperature) without light in order to assign a shelf life. Methylergometrine was assayed by a stability-indicating HPLC method with diode array detection.

Particular cutaneous side effects with etoposide-containing courses: is VP16 or etoposide phosphate responsible?

Purpose: Etoposide is commercially available in France in two different pharmaceutical forms: VP16 and its phosphate ester (etoposide phosphate, EP). EP shows better chemical and physical properties, is said to be less toxic but is five times more expensive than VP16. Some criteria were defined for the use of each form in the Paediatric Oncohaematology Department in Hopital Sud in Rennes.

[Grapefruit juice and drugs: a hazardous combination?].

A single glass of grapefruit juice can improve the oral bioavailability of a drug thus either increasing its efficacy or enhancing its adverse effects particularly if the therapeutic index is narrow. Grapefruit juice acts by inhibiting presystemic drug metabolism mediated by CYP P450 3A4 in the small bowel and this interaction would appear to be more relevant if the CYP 3A4 content is high and the drug has a strong first pass degradation. Intestinal P-glycoprotein may also be affected by grapefruit juice.

Modulation of endothelial permeability by 1-O-alkylglycerols.

Regulation of endothelial barrier function often occurs through signalling involving phospholipase C activation which produces diacylglycerol (DAG), a lipidic second messenger activator of protein kinase C (PKC). Therefore, modification of lipidic composition of endothelial cell membranes might modify DAG production and, as a result, alter regulation of endothelial permeability. We investigated the in vitro effects of natural 1-O-alkylglycerols on porcine aortic endothelial cell permeability to dye-labelled albumin.