4- Thursday Pharmacotherapy News – 9th September

1 – Omega-3 fatty acids for the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease

• Marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acids with many purported beneficial health effects including the prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) events.
• Omega-3 fatty acid intake may be supplemented via dietary sources, as well as prescription or non-prescription products.
• Omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to reduce serum triglycerides, but there remains ongoing debate regarding the effect of omega-3 fatty acids on major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with established, or at risk of, ASCVD.

Source: ACCP

2 – Drug repurposing of dextromethorphan as a cellular target for the management of influenza

• Influenza viruses are responsible for seasonal epidemics and sporadic pandemics of varying severity in humans and additional treatment options are needed. High-throughput siRNA screens and an in-vivo model demonstrated that dextromethorphan (DM) has antiviral activity as a cellular target for treatment of influenza.
• This study examined DM usage and hospitalization rates among patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza in a national cohort of United States veterans.
• They aimed to evaluate the potential drug repurposing of DM as a cellular target for the management of influenza utilizing a large, national claims and electronic health record database.

Source: ACCP

3 – Advances in the treatment of Chagas disease: Promising new drugs, plants and targets

• Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is treated with only two drugs; benznidazole and nifurtimox.
• These drugs have some disadvantages.
• Therefore, it is necessary to identify new, safe and effective therapeutic alternatives to treat Chagas disease, though governments and the pharmaceutical industry have shown a lack of interest in contributing to this solution.
• Institutions and research groups on the other hand have worked on some strategies that can help to address the problem.
• Some of these include the modification of conventional drug dosages, drug repurposing, and combined therapy.
• Plants and derived compounds with antiparasitic effects have also been studied, taking advantage of traditional medicinal knowledge.
• This exchange of knowledge would lead to the development of new therapeutic alternatives to treat Chagas disease and benefit the populations it affects.

Source: ScienceDirect

4- Bamlanivimab use in mild-to-moderate COVID-19 disease: A matched cohort design

• The objective was to determine if bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555; BAM), a monoclonal antibody for mild-to-moderate Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-Co-V-2, prevented emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations for SARS-CoV-2, or death within 60 days of a positive SARS-CoV-2 viral test.
• A total of 144 of 2107 patients with mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 received BAM
• Eligible patients had mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 disease, a positive SARS-CoV-2 test, and risk factor(s) for progression to severe SARS-CoV-2 infection.
• All patients were reviewed for subsequent ED visits, subsequent hospitalization, and death.
• BAM infusion for mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection in outpatients significantly prevented subsequent ED visits, hospitalizations, and death from SARS-CoV-2.

Source: ACCP

5 – Treatment of patients with serious infections due to carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii: How viable are the current options?

• This review critically appraises the published microbiologic and clinical data on the treatment of patients with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections.
• Despite being recognized as an urgent threat pathogen by the CDC and WHO, optimal treatment of patients with serious CRAB infections remains ill-defined.
• Historically, polymyxins have been the most active agents in vitro, though interpretations of susceptibility data are difficult given issues surrounding MIC testing methodologies and lack of correlation between MICs and clinical outcomes.
• Most available preclinical and clinical data involve use of polymyxins, tetracyclines, and sulbactam, alone and in combination.
• As the number of viable treatment options is limited, combination therapy with a polymyxin is often used for patients with CRAB infections, despite the significant risk of nephrotoxicity.
• However, no treatment regimen has been found to reduce mortality, which exceeds 40% across most studies

Source: ACCP

6 – CDC: COVID-19 Vaccines 66% Effective Against Delta Variant

• Hyperglycemia is a common and difficult to manage adverse effect of steroid therapy.
• Management of steroid-induced hyperglycemia is not clearly defined, however treatment with neutral protamine Hagedorn insulin (NPH) may be beneficial owing to pharmacokinetic similarities to intermediate-acting steroids.
• This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of NPH for steroid-induced hyperglycemia and identify factors associated with achievement of euglycemia.
• NPH is a safe and efficacious option for acute care hospitalized patients experiencing steroid-induced hyperglycemia.
• More aggressive dosing initiation of NPH based on steroid dose may allow for earlier achievement of euglycemia without a difference in hypoglycemia.

Source: ACCP

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