See also Anorectic drugs General information Aminorex is an amfetamine analogue that was used as an anorectic agent, but was withdrawn from the market over 20 years ago because of its association with pulmonary hypertension, which sometimes proved fatal. Its…
General information Aminophenazone (amidopyrine) is the most toxic and most dangerous anti-inflammatory analgesic. Blood dyscrasias have been documented beyond any doubt, perhaps due to a hypersensitivity mechanism. The Committee on the Safety of Drugs of the Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Bureau…
General information Aminolevulinic acid (5-aminolevulinic acid, δ-aminolevulinic acid, 5ALA, δ-ALA) is the first compound in the porphyrin synthesis pathway, which leads to heme in mammals and chlorophyll in plants. It has been used as a component of photodynamic therapy in…
See also individual agents General information The aminoglycosides that have been, or are still, important in medical practice are amikacin, gentamicin (pINN), isepamicin, kanamycin, neomycin, netilmicin, paromomycin, sisomicin, streptomycin and dihydrostreptomycin, and tobramycin. Being chemically similar, the aminoglycosides have many…
General information During normal fibrinolysis, inactive circulating plasminogen binds to fibrin through an active site that binds lysine. The bound plasminogen is then converted to plasmin by activators (such as tissue plasminogen activator, t-PA) and converted to plasmin, which breaks…
See also Tricyclic antidepressants General information Amineptine is a tricyclic antidepressant that selectively reduces the dopamine reuptake without affecting the uptake of noradrenaline or serotonin (5-HT) [ ]. In vivo, it increases striatal homovanillic acid concentrations without affecting the concentrations…
General information Amiloride is a potassium-sparing diuretic that acts in the distal convoluted tubule independently of the action of aldosterone, inhibiting sodium channels. It is a relatively safe drug with few reported adverse effects. Patients with congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus…
See also Aminoglycoside antibiotics General information Amikacin is a semisynthetic derivative of kanamycin with similar pharmacokinetic properties and dosages. It is resistant to many of the bacterial R factor-mediated enzymes that inactivate kanamycin and gentamicin. Noteworthy is its effect against…
See also Anorectic drugs General information Reports on the frequency of adverse reactions to amfepramone are not entirely consistent. The number of adverse effects reported by patients taking amfepramone closely paralleled the number in those taking placebo in one study…
See also Endothelin receptor antagonists General information Ambrisentan is an endothelin receptor antagonist that has been investigated in the treatment of idiopathic and secondary pulmonary hypertension [ ]. It is a propionic acid-based selective antagonist at endothelin type A (ET…