Monitoring of drugs

When patients elect detoxification from maintenance, a very gradual reduction of dosage is preferred, with careful monitoring of drug craving and withdrawal symptoms. Three to 6 months is recommended for most elective detoxifications. As many as one-third of methadone maintenance clients have been found to have a marked fear of detoxification (Milby et al. 1986). 

Young, D.S. Friedman, R.B. and Pestaner, L.C. "Automatic Monitoring of Drug-Laboratory Test Interactions" Drug Interactions, pp. 393-401, Morselll, P.L., Garattlnl, S., and Cohen, S.N., Editors, Raven Press, New York, 1974. 

TABLE 4-3 Clinical Monitoring of Drug Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis 1 ... 

HPLC has had considerable success in separating compounds as diverse as steroids, carbohydrates, vitamins, dyestuffs, pesticides and polymers. It is used routinely for the assay of pharmaceutical products, the monitoring of drugs and metabolites in body fluids and for other biomedical, biochemical and forensic applications, such as the detection of drugs of abuse. The determination of additives in foodstuffs and beverages including sugars,... 

Of course, Rezulin is nof fhe only drug implicated in liver toxicity. In fact, the FDA recently posted a nottce on its website (http //fda.gov/), describing a special interesf and monitoring of drug-induced hepatotoxicity ... 

In Canada, routine monitoring of drug residues in edible animal tissues is an integral part of the Canadian federal meat inspection system of the Food Production and Inspection Branch, Federal Department of Agriculture and AgriFood. Monitoring for antibiotic residues in cultured fish is the responsibility of the Inspection Service Branch, Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. 

Thus the (R) form cannot correctly be described as inert. Statements such as the (R) form is inert and the (S) form is pharmacologically active and is therefore also responsible for adverse side effects must be examined carefully and tested by experiments which are capable of measuring stereospecific differences. In the monitoring of drug levels and metabolites in body fluids, methods which do not distinguish between the (R) and (S) forms of chiral drugs and their metabolites are likely to yield pharmacokinetic nonsense. 

Behbehani, M. and Savioli, L. (1 998) Report of the WHO informal consultation on monitoring of drug efficacy in the control of schistosomiasis and intestinal nematodes. World Health Organization, Geneva. 

Like any diagnostic test, the measurement of drug plasma level is, however, justified only when the information provided is of potential therapeutic benefit and has been demonstrated in clinical trials. The clinical value of plasma level monitoring depends on how precisely the treatment outcome can be defined. On the other hand, when a precise therapeutic end point is difficult to define, monitoring of drug levels may be of considerable therapeutic assistance for clinicians [35],... 

Larson RA (2009) Therapeutic monitoring of drug plasma concentrations and improved clinical outcomes in CML. Clin Adv Hematol Oncol 7 S3-S5... 

Sufficient sample size to detect clinically significant benefit Simple treatment regimen Adequate monitoring of drug safety... 

Thormann W, Lienhard S, Wernly P (1993) Strategies for the monitoring of drugs in body fluids by micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography. J Chromatogr 636 137-148. 

The major route of elimination is hepatic metabolism. The variability in the metabolism and pharmacokinetics in neonates, infants and children necessitates monitoring of drug concentrations in the plasma, particularly when it is co-administered with phenytoin, phenobarbital or rifampin. 

CAP is a useful broad spectrum antibiotic used in both human and veterinary medicine, but it is capable of producing toxic effects at high concentrations and, consequently, its use in food-producing animals has been banned. Thus the monitoring of drug levels in patients blood and in foodstuffs is of great importance. 

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