A retrospective study on potential drug interactions: A single center experience

Background: In this study, it is aimed to explain the type and frequency of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDI) in patients a Medical oncology service. Methods: This study retrospective descriptive design. pDDIs were identified using the checker programme (Medscape®). Interactions were classified according to their clinical relevance as minor, moderate and major as appropriate. Results: The prevalence of pDDIs was 71.3% and median age was 61 years-old (interquartile range 54–68) and female to male ratio was 116/211. The median number of drugs per patient was 8 (interquartile range 5–10). A total of 1102 pDDIs of 327 hospitalized cancer patients were identified. Of those, 16.7% were major and 61.8% moderate, respectively. Concomitant use of opioids was the most common interaction in our study. Conclusions: Drug interactions were common in hospitalized cancer patients. In order to prevent potential hazardous effect of pDDI, awareness of the physicians should be increased about this issue. Keywords: Cancer patients, Oncology, Polypharmacy, Drug interaction, Chemotherap

Everolimus-Induced Oral Mucositis Can be Prevented by Hippophae Rhamnoides Extract in Rats

Objectives: Oral mucositis is a significant toxicity related to the mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor everolimus.Oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory cytokines, which contribute to treatment-related mucositis, can betargeted with Hippophae rhamnoides extract (HRE). Herein, we assessed the effects of HRE on everolimus-inducedmucositis in rats.Methods: Eighteen rats were equally divided into healthy, everolimus, and everolimus plus HRE groups. Malondialdehyde(MDA) and total glutathione (tGSH) levels along with interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF-α) gene expression levels were measured in the tongue and buccal mucosa tissues of all groups, histopathologicalchanges were also evaluated. We tested the significance of variations with one-way variance analysis. We also analyzedthe differences between groups with Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U-test.Results: HRE significantly decreased MDA and increased tGSH levels and reduced IL-1β and TNF-α gene expression inboth tissues administered everolimus (p&lt;0.001 for each). Histological examination revealed that HRE improved epithelialformation and keratinization, disrupted by everolimus, and alleviated everolimus-related mononuclear cell infiltration(p&lt;0.05 for each).Conclusion: In light of these results, HRE may be a promising agent to manage oral mucositis caused by everolimus,given the lack of effective therapeutic options for this type of adverse event.Keywords: Everolimus, hippophae rhamnoides, oral mucositis</p