LSTM Home > LSTM Research > LSTM Online Archive

Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic issues in the treatment of parasitic infections

Edwards, Geoffrey and Krishna, S. (2004) 'Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic issues in the treatment of parasitic infections'. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Vol 23, Issue 4, pp. 233-242.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Despite increases in the incidence of many parasitic infections in recent years, the number of studies designed to improve the treatment of these infections has failed to keep pace with their huge impact on public health. Unfortunately, research and development in this field is not an economically attractive proposition for the pharmaceutical industry, and this neglect is exacerbated by the fact that many parasitic diseases have negligible profiles in countries that have the funds to research them. An absence of effective vaccines means that, for the foreseeable future, chemotherapy is likely to be the mainstay of disease management. This review describes the advances gained in our understanding of the relationship between pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, with the aim of improving the way in which we use antiparasitic agents while at the same time highlighting those areas where there is an urgent need for further investigation. Unsurprisingly, much of our success has been in the chemotherapy of malaria, where the link between drug concentration and response is reasonably well characterised. For many other diseases, however, this link is poorly understood, in some cases because the mechanism of action of the drug has not been fully elucidated, or in other cases because a true pharmacodynamic endpoint may be unavailable. Overcoming these problems is critical if the clinician is to have the information necessary to enable optimal treatment of patients who may be severely ill and in need of immediate, life-saving attention.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: acute falciparum-malaria plasmodium-falciparum antimalarial-drugs population pharmacokinetics prognostic-significance schistosoma-mansoni sleeping sickness children pigment melarsoprol
Subjects: QV Pharmacology > Anti-Inflammatory Agents. Anti-Infective Agents. Antineoplastic Agents > QV 253 Anthelmintics
QV Pharmacology > Anti-Inflammatory Agents. Anti-Infective Agents. Antineoplastic Agents > QV 254 Antiprotozoal agents (General)
QV Pharmacology > Anti-Inflammatory Agents. Anti-Infective Agents. Antineoplastic Agents > QV 256 Antimalarials
QV Pharmacology > QV 38 Drug action.
WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 695 Parasitic diseases (General)
WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 750 Malaria
WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 770 Therapy
WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 800 Helminthiasis
WC Communicable Diseases > Tropical and Parasitic Diseases > WC 850 Nematode infections (General)
Faculty: Department: Groups (2002 - 2012) > Molecular & Biochemical Parasitology Group
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-004-1113-9
Depositing User: Martin Chapman
Date Deposited: 30 Aug 2012 14:29
Last Modified: 17 Jul 2020 10:58
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/2150

Statistics

View details

Actions (login required)

Edit Item Edit Item