Ketoconazole

synthetic antifungal drug

used for infections such as  athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis (yeast infection or thrush), jock itch.

Ketoconazole is used to treat eumycetoma, the fungal form of mycetoma.

MOA: Ketoconazole is imidazole structured, and interferes with the fungal synthesis of  ergosterol, the main constituent of cell membranes, as well as certain enzymes. It is specific for fungi, as mammalian cell membranes contain no ergosterol.

Sensitive fungi Ketoconazole inhibits growth of  dermatophytes and  yeast species (such as Candida albicans).

Diphenoxylate (present in Lomotil)

• A meperidine congener
• Not absorbed very well at recommended doses.
• Very useful in the treatment of diarrhea.

Midazolam -Intravenous Anesthetics
 Midazolam is a benzodiazepine used for preoperative sedation, induction of anesthesia, or maintenance of anesthesia in short procedures.

Halothane (Fluothane) MAC 0.76%, Blood/gas solubility ratio 2.3
- Nonflammable.
- Any depth of anesthesia can be obtained in the absence of hypoxia.
- Halothane produces a marked hypotensive effect 
- accompanies hypotension.
- Halothane “sensitizes” the ventricular conduction system in the heart to the action of catecholamines. However, ventricular arrhythmias are rare if
- respiratory acidosis, hypoxia and other causes of sympathetic stimulation are avoided.
- Respiration is depressed by all anesthetic concentrations.
- Halothane is metabolized to a significant extent and some of its metabolic produces have been shown to be hepatotoxic.
- Can produce a malignant hyperpyrexia due to an uncontrolled hypermetabolic reaction in skeletal muscle. 

Halothane is generally used with nitrous oxide, an opiate and a neuromuscular blocking drug.

Antipsychotic Drugs

A.    Neuroleptics: antipsychotics; refers to ability of drugs to suppress motor activity and emotional expression (e.g., chlorpromazine shuffle)
Uses: primarily to treat symptoms of schizophrenia (thought disorder); also for psychoses (include drug-induced from amphetamine and cocaine), agitated states

Psychosis: variety of mental disorders (e.g., impaired perceptions, cognition, inappropriate or ↓ affect or mood)

Examples: dementias (Alzheimer’s), bipolar affective disorder (manic-depressive)

B.    Schizophrenia: 1% world-wide incidence (independent of time, culture, geography, politics); early onset (adolescence/young adulthood), life-long and progressive; treatment effective in ~ 50% (relieve symptoms but don’t cure)

Symptoms: antipsychotics control positive symptoms better than negative

a.    Positive: exaggerated/distorted normal function; commonly have hallucinations (auditory) and delusions (grandeur; paranoid delusions particularly prevalent; the most prevalent delusion is that thoughts are broadcast to world or thoughts/feelings are imposed by an external force)

b.    Negative: loss of normal function; see social withdrawal, blunted affect (emotions), ↓ speech and thought, loss of energy, inability to experience pleasure

Etiology: pathogenesis unkown but see biochemical (↑ dopamine receptors), structural (enlarged cerebral ventricles, cortical atrophy, ↓ volume of basal ganglia), functional (↓ cerebral blood flow, ↓ glucose utilization in prefrontal cortex), and genetic abnormalities (genetic predisposition, may involve multiple genes; important)

 Dopamine hypothesis: schizo symptoms due to abnormal ↑ in dopamine receptor activity; evidenced by 

i.    Correlation between potency and dopamine receptor antagonist binding: high correlation between therapeutic potency and their affinity for binding to D2 receptor, low correlation between potency and binding to D1 receptor)

ii.    Drugs that ↑ dopamine transmission can enhance schizophrenia or produce schizophrenic symptoms:

A)    L-DOPA: ↑ dopamine synthesis
B)    Chronic amphetamine use: releases dopamine
C)    Apomorphine: dopamine agonist

iii.    Dopamine receptors ↑ in brains of schizophrenics: postmortem brains, positron emission tomography

Dopamine pathways: don’t need to know details below; know that overactivity of dopamine neurons in mesolimbic and mesolimbocortical pathways → schizo symptoms

i.    Dorsal mesostriatal (nigrostriatal): substantia nigra to striatum; controls motor function
ii.    Ventral mesostriatal (mesolimbic): ventral tegmentum to nucleus accumbens; controls behavior/emotion; abnormally active in schizophrenia
iii.    Mesolimbocortical: ventral tegmentum to cortex and limbic structures; controls behavior and emotion; activity may be ↑ in schizophrenia
iv.    Tuberohypophyseal: hypothalamus to pituitary; inhibits prolactin secretion; important pathway to understand side effects

 Antipsychotic drugs: non-compliance is major reason for therapeutic failure

1.    Goals: prevent symptoms, improve quality of life, minimize side effects
2.    Prototypical drugs: chlorpromazine (phenothiazine derivative) and haloperidol (butyrophenone derivative)
a.    Provide symptomatic relief in 70%; delayed onset of action (4-8 weeks) and don’t know why (maybe from ↓ firing of dopamine neurons that project to meso-limbic and cortical regions)
3.    Older drugs: equally efficacious in treating schizophrenia; no abuse potential, little physical dependence; dysphoria in normal individuals; high therapeutic indexes (20-1000)

Classification: 

i.    Phenothiazines: 1st effective antipsychotics; chlorpromazine and thioridazine
ii.    Thioxanthines: less potent; thithixene
iii.    Butyrophenones: most widely used; haloperidol

 Side effects: many (so known as dirty drugs); block several NT receptors (adrenergic, cholindergic, histamine, dopamine, serotonin)  and D2 receptors in other pathways

i.    Autonomic: block muscarinic receptor (dry mouth, urinary retention, memory impairment), α-adrenoceptor (postural hypotension, reflex tachycardia)
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome: collapse of ANS; fever, diaphoresis, CV instability; incidence 1-2% of patients (fatal in 10%); need immediate treatment (bromocriptine- dopamine agonist)

ii.    Central: block DA receptor (striatum; have parkinsonian effects like bradykinesia/tremor/muscle rigidity, dystonias like neck/facial spasms, and akathisia—subject to motor restlessness), dopamine receptor (pituitary; have ↑ prolactin release, breast enlargement, galactorrhea, amenorrhea), histamine receptor (sedation)

DA receptor upregulation (supersensitivity): occurs after several months/years; see tardive dyskinesias (involuntary orofacial movements)

Drug interactions: induces hepatic metabolizing enzymes (↑ drug metabolism), potentiate CNS depressant effects (analgesics, general anesthetics, CNS depressants), D2 antagonists block therapeutic effects of L-DOPA used to treat Parkinson’s

Toxicity: high therapeutic indexes; acute toxicity seen only at very high doses (hypotension, hyper/hypothermia, seizures, coma, ventricular tachycardia)

Mechanism of action: D2 receptor antagonists, efficacy ↑ with ↑ potency at D2 receptor

Newer drugs: include clozapine (dibenzodiazepine; has preferential affinity for D4 receptors, low affinity for D2 receptors), risperidone (benzisoxazole), olanzapine (thienobenzodiazepine)

Advantages over older drugs: low incidence of agranulocytosis (leucopenia; exception is clozapine), very low incidence of motor disturbances (extrapyramidal signs; may be due to low affinity for D2 receptors), no prolactin elevation

Side effects: DA receptor upregulation (supersensitivity) occurs after several months/years; may → tardive diskinesias
 

Glucocorticoids 
Cortisol (hydrocortisone) and its synthetic derivatives 

Mechanism 

↓ the production of leukotrienes and prostaglandins   - inhibits phospholipase A2 , inhibits expression of COX-2 , will also stimulate the bone marrow to produce neutrophils resulting in leukocytosis 

halts inflammatory cascade 

↓ leukocyte migration
↓ capillary permeability
↓ phagocytosis
↓ platelet-activating factor
↓ interleukins (e.g. IL-2)

may trigger apoptosis in dividing and non-dividing cells

used in cancer chemotherapy

Clinical use

anti-inflammatory
immunosuppression
cancer chemotherapy (prednisone most common)
CLL
Hodgkin's lymphomas
part of MOPP regimen
Addison disease
asthma

Toxicity

1) must taper dose to avoid toxicity
2) suppression of ACTH → shock state if abrupt withdrawal - > cortical atrophy, malaise, myalgia, arthralgia, fever
3) iatrogenic Cushing  syndrome ->buffalo hump, moon facies, truncal obesity, muscle weakness and atrophy, thin skin, easy bruising, acne
4) osteoporosis - vertebral fractures, aseptic hip necrosis, ↓ skeletal growth in children 
5) hyperglycemia (diabetes) -due to ↑ gluconeogenesis , glaucoma, cataracts, and other complications can subsequently result
6) ↑ GI acid release -ulcers
7) Na+ retention -> edema, HTN, hypokalemia alkalosis, hypocalcemia
8)↓ wound healing
9) ↑ infections
10) mental status changes
11) cataracts