Conventional antipsychotics Dosing Optimal dosing with conventional antipsychotic agents involves the selection of a moderate initial dose (Table), followed by careful clinical titration to maximize antipsychotic efficacy while minimizing extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS). (If EPS develop on a typical drug, consider decreasing dose or adding an anticholinergic drug or switching to an atypical, if p...

Although the majority of Lyme disease patients can be cured, at least 10-20% of the patients continue to suffer from persisting symptoms such as fatigue, muscular and joint pain, and neurologic impairment after standard 2-4 week antibiotic treatment. While the causes for this post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms are unclear, one possibility is due to Borrelia burgdorferi persisters that are not...

We evaluated pulsatile dosing of clarithromycin and amoxicillin alone or combined against Streptococcus pneumoniae with various susceptibilities. When combined, pulsatile amoxicillin with clarithromycin was superior to either 8- or 12-h dosing against the intermediate strain and was identical for the susceptible strain. Pulse dosing of antimicrobials warrants further investigation.

The relative nephro- and neurotoxicity of colistin methanesulfonate (CMS) was investigated with rats during 7 days of intravenous administration in regimens mimicking twice- and once-daily dosing of a clinically relevant dose for humans. Histological examination revealed more-severe renal lesions with the regimen corresponding to once-daily dosing, indicating that the potential for renal toxici...

BACKGROUND Vancomycin is commonly prescribed at the authors' institution because of a high prevalence of invasive infections caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a generally younger population. The most commonly prescribed empiric dosing interval is every 12 h (q12h). However, observations have suggested that younger adult patients require more frequent dosing, such a...

AIMS To evaluate the pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of subcutaneous peginterferon beta-1a in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) in the phase 3 ADVANCE study (n = 1512). METHODS During year 1, patients were randomized (1:1:1) to placebo or peginterferon beta-1a 125 μg every 2 or 4 weeks. After year 1, patients randomized to placebo were re-randomized t...

BACKGROUND Extended dosing of the erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) darbepoetin alfa (DA) once biweekly or monthly reduces anaemia treatment burden. This observational study assessed outcomes and dosing patterns in patients with chronic kidney disease not on dialysis (CKD-NoD) commencing extended dosing of DA. METHODS Adult CKD-NoD patients starting extended dosing of DA in Europe or Aus...

BACKGROUND Lung inflammation is a critical determinant of influenza infection outcomes but is seldom evaluated in animal studies of oseltamivir (OS), which have focused on viral titre and survival. OBJECTIVES To study the effects of pre- and post-infection dosing with OS on viral replication and inflammation in a mouse model of non-lethal influenza infection. METHODS BALB/c mice were infect...