Clin Pharmacol Ther

Therapeutic and diagnostic potential of a vasopressin-2 antagonist for impaired water handling in cirrhosis.

Year 1998
Inoue T. Ohnishi A. Matsuo A. Kawai B. Kunihiro N. Tada Y. Koizumi F. Chau T. Okada K. Yamamura Y. Tanaka T.
Department of Internal Medicine (I), Daisan Hospital, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
OBJECTIVE: Progressive cirrhosis is associated with increasing difficulty to handle free water. We examined the therapeutic potential of an orally active nonpeptide vasopressin-2 receptor antagonist (OPC-31260) in the management of edema and ascites in patients with cirrhosis. By means of its chemical blockade of the vasopressin-2 receptor in the kidney, we also assessed the ability of renal water handling in the early stage of cirrhosis. METHODS: A single 30 mg dose of OPC-31260 was administered orally to eight biopsy-proven patients with cirrhosis who had ascites or peripheral edema. The aquaretic responses were compared with those in six healthy subjects. RESULTS: In the patients with cirrhosis, OPC-31260 significantly (p < 0.01) increased the urinary excretion rate at 0 to 2 hours, and significantly (p < 0.01) lowered urine osmolality at 2 to 4 hours after administration. Free water clearance increased from -0.48 +/- 0.14 to +0.19 +/- 0.21 ml/min (p < 0.05) at 0 to 4 hours after administration. However, these aquaretic responses in the patients with cirrhosis were only approximately half the responses observed in the healthy subjects. A significant (p < 0.05) inverse relationship was observed between indocyanine green retention at 15 minutes after administration and the maximal free water clearance after administration to the patients with cirrhosis. Urinary sodium excretion did not change significantly in the patients, whereas it increased twofold in the healthy subjects. Urinary vasopressin excretion tended to increase in the patients, whereas it increased twofold to threefold (p < 0.01 to 0.05) from the baseline in the healthy subjects. Urinary prostaglandin E2 excretion was not increased, and serum sodium and plasma vasopressin levels were elevated only slightly in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Even though a hyporesponsiveness was observed in the group of patients with cirrhosis compared with the healthy group, the novel vasopressin-2 antagonist induced hypotonic diuresis in patients with cirrhosis, suggesting a therapeutic potential in managing water excess. This drug response may be a new index to assess impairment of water handling in patients with cirrhosis.

Cancer recurrences and secondary primary cancers after use of antihistamines or antidepressants.

Year 1998
Weiss SR. McFarland BH. Burkhart GA. Ho PT.
Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA.
OBJECTIVES: Reports in the scientific literature have described accelerated tumor growth in association with antidepressant and antihistamine exposure in experimental rodent cancer models. This study was designed to determine whether exposure to prescription antidepressants or antihistamines is associated with tumor growth in humans. METHODS: Two nested case-control studies were conducted with a cohort of 1467 patients with breast cancer, colon cancer, or melanoma diagnosed between 1988 and 1994. Eligible patients included 95 with a cancer recurrence and 78 with a second primary lesion diagnosed during the follow-up period. Five control subjects were matched to each case patient according to cancer site, stage, and follow-up time. Conditional logistic regression was used to compare risk for tumor recurrence or occurrence of a second primary tumor among patients using antidepressants or antihistamines with risk among unexposed patients. RESULTS: For a cohort of patients who were predominantly female (78%), with breast cancer (57%) and with a tumor in situ or with localized disease (79%), the average age was 62 years at cancer diagnosis and average duration of follow-up period was 2.2 years. Use of antidepressants or antihistamines was unrelated to risk for tumor recurrence (odds ratio, 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.52 to 1.78) or second primary tumors (odds ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.50 to 1.77). CONCLUSION: Typical use of antidepressant or antihistamine drugs did not increase risk for recurrent or second primary tumors among patients with cancer.