Therapeutic drug monitoring of immunosuppressive drugs in hepatology and gastroenterology

Recent Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology and Hepatology

The past year has seen major therapeutic advances in gastroenterology and hepatology. Two areas with notable gains are related to infectious diseases: novel treatments directed against recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and against the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Clostridium difficile infection is an infectious colitis with high associated morbidity and mortality. Broad-spectrum antib...

Trend in therapeutic monitoring of immunosuppressive drugs.

A Review on Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Immunosuppressant Drugs

Immunosuppressants require therapeutic drug monitoring because of their narrow therapeutic index and significant inter-individual variability in blood concentrations. This variability can be because of factors like drug-nutrient interactions, drug-disease interactions, renal-insufficiency, inflammation and infection, gender, age, polymorphism and liver mass. Drug monitoring is widely practiced ...

Impact of Laboratory Practices on Interlaboratory Variability in Therapeutic Drug Monitoring of Immunosuppressive Drugs.

The immunosuppressants cyclosporine, tacrolimus, sirolimus, everolimus, and probably also mycophenolic acid require therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM)-guided dosing to ensure that blood concentrations are kept within the target range in transplant patients. Reliable, accurate, and precise test methods are therefore essential to effectively monitor levels and to make proper dose adjustments. Data...

Advances in gastroenterology and hepatology.

This is a review of some of the most important growing points in the specialties of gastroenterology and hepatology. It does not aim to be completely comprehensive but to pick out major areas of importance to examination candidates and doctors without special experience in the field. Topics covered include: upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage; Barrett's oesophagus; carcinoma of the oesophagus; a...