One hundred male out-patients were treated for alcohol withdrawal symptoms with either carbamazepine or placebo in a double-blind, multicentre trial carried out a five Finnish A-clinics (alcoholism treatment centres) in different parts of the country. In both the carbamazepine and the placebo groups two thirds of the patients completed the 7-day treatment successfully, and the final treatment results were considered equally good in both groups. However, the withdrawal symptoms, especially the sleep disturbances, subsided faster in the carbamazepine group than in the placebo group. The change in the total symptom score from the first day of treatment to the second was significantly greater in the carbamazepine group than in the placebo group. The patients' ability to work improved significantly faster in the carbamazepine group.
The plasma decay of lignocaine administered intravenously is virtually unaffected by the concomitant administration of erythromycin and itraconazole. However, erythromycin increases the concentrations of MEGX, which indicates that erythromycin either increases the relative amount of lignocaine metabolized via N-de-ethylation or decreases the further metabolism of MEGX. Further studies are necessary to elucidate the clinical significance of the erythromycin-induced elevated concentrations of MEGX during prolonged intravenous infusions of lignocaine.
Inhibitors of CYP3A4 (cytochrome P450 3A4) have a minor effect on lidocaine pharmacokinetics. We studied the effect of coadministration of the antidepressant fluvoxamine (CYP1A2 inhibitor) and antimicrobial drug erythromycin (CYP3A4 inhibitor) on lidocaine pharmacokinetics in a double-blind, randomized, three-way crossover study. Nine volunteers ingested daily 100 mg fluvoxamine and placebo, 100 mg fluvoxamine and 1500 mg erythromycin, or their corresponding placebos for 5 days. On day 6, 1.5 mg/kg lidocaine was administered IV over 60 min. Concentrations of lidocaine and its major metabolite monoethylglycinexylidide were measured for 10 h. Fluvoxamine alone decreased the clearance of lidocaine by 41% (P < 0.001) and prolonged its elimination half-life from 2.6 to 3.5 h (P < 0.01). During the combination of fluvoxamine and erythromycin, lidocaine clearance was 53% smaller than during placebo (P < 0.001) and 21% smaller than during fluvoxamine alone (P < 0.05). During the combination phase the half-life of lidocaine (4.3 h) was longer than during the placebo (2.6 h; P < 0.001) or fluvoxamine (3.5 h; P < 0.01). We conclude that inhibition of CYP1A2 by fluvoxamine considerably reduces elimination of lidocaine and may increase the risk of lidocaine toxicity. Concomitant use of both fluvoxamine and a CYP3A4 inhibitor such as erythromycin can further increase plasma lidocaine concentrations by decreasing its clearance.
Absiruct: Lignocaine is metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4 enzyme (CYP3A4), and has a moderate to high extraction ratio resulting in oral bioavailability of 30%. We have studied the possible effect of two inhibitors of CYP3A4, erythromycin and itraconazole, on the pharmacokinetics of oral lignocaine in nine volunteers using a cross-over study design. The subjects were given erythromycin orally (500 mg three times a day), itraconazole (200 mg once a day) or placebo for four days. On day 4, each subject ingested a single dose of 1 mg/kg of oral lignocaine. Plasma samples were collected until 10 hr and concentrations of lignocaine and its major metabolite, monoethylglycinexylidide were measured by gas chromatography. Both erythromycin and itraconazole increased the area under the lignocaine plasma concentration-time curve [AUC(O-m)] and lignocaine peak concentrations by 40-70% (P<0.05). Compared to placebo and itraconazole, erythromycin increased monoethylglycinexylidide peak concentrations by approximately 40% (P
The plasma decay of intravenously administered lidocaine is modestly delayed by concomitantly administered ciprofloxacin. Ciprofloxacin may increase the systemic toxicity of lidocaine.
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