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Copyright of Farmacie Pro Praxi is the property of SOLEN sro and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Farmacie Pro Praxi is the property of SOLEN sro and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Praktické Lékárenství is the property of SOLEN sro and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mayerová M, Turjap M, Ustohal L, Pivnička J, Češková E. Therapeutic drug monitoring of olanzapine and clozapine The article summarizes existing basic literature and recommendations concerning therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of antipsychotics. It is focused on olanzapine and clozapine. Moreover, the terms "therapeutic drug monitoring" and "therapeutic reference range" are explained and indications for TDM are summarized. The factors that can influence plasma levels and that can be influenced by plasma levels are also mentioned. The article reports, where and how TDM can be done in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quetiapine is atypical antipsychotic with remarkable clinical and receptor-binding profile depending on dosage used. Plasma concentrations and also clinical response vary markedly after equal doses between individuals in clinical practice. Polypharmacy and suboptimal adherence is common. The drug is metabolised by cytochrome P450 and thus, clinically important pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions are likely. There is evidence from literature about plasma concentrations obtained at therapeutically effective doses. Quetiapine is therefore suitable candidate for therapeutic drug monitoring. Here we present an overview of biotransformation and pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions and current knowledge on therapeutic drug monitoring of quetiapine, its benefits and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of unavailability of drugs and shortages have been a common problem in recent years. Shortages may threaten some treatment regimens for oncological patients. This article presents a systematic review of studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of chemotherapy regimens combining fluorouracil and standard or low-dose leucovorin in treating colorectal cancer. A total of 13 prospective and retrospective studies were included in the review. Meta-analyses and review papers were excluded. It is apparent from the systematic review that a lower dose of leucovorin does not fundamentally affect the efficacy of regimens combining 5-fluorouracil with leucovorin in treating patients with colorectal cancer. Similarly, even in the case of safety, reducing the dose of leucovorin did not influence the frequency and severity of observed adverse effects. Surprisingly, in three studies, some of the adverse effects occurred more often with the higher dose of leucovorin. Furthermore, the article presents the results of a questionnaire survey of the management of leucovorin shortages at the departments of preparation of cytostatics (N = 46) within the Czech Republic. In total, 35 workplaces provided feedback. In 17 cases, the departments for the preparation of cytostatics in the Czech Republic had to accept restrictions on administering the full dose of leucovorin. These restrictions consisted of reducing the dose of the injectable form of leucovorin, changing the chemotherapy regimen, administering the oral form of calcium folinate, forcing a therapeutic break, or a combination of these approaches.