Pharmacokinetic Drug Drug Interactions
A drug interaction happens when a patient's reaction to a medication is altered by food, nutritional supplements, formulation excipients, other medications, illnesses, or environmental variables. Drug-drug interactions can be either advantageous or detrimental. Harmful drug–drug interactions are significant because they cause 10–20% of the adverse drug reactions requiring hospitalisation and they can be prevented.
By using clinical pharmacology concepts and providing appropriate clinical care, the majority of possible drug interactions can be identified. The likelihood of discovering undesirable drug interactions before they result in serious injury is increased when practitioners are more watchful while changing medications. It is better to manage drug interactions by being well-versed in a small number of medications and using the information that is provided sparingly rather than depending entirely on electronic decision assistance.
The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the interacting medicines are linked to common mechanisms that cause a large number of drug-drug interactions. Clinical practice requires an understanding of how drug interactions happen and how to manage them.
The following is a summary of significant pharmacokinetic medication interactions.
References
1. Snyder BD, Polasek TM, Doogue MP. Drug interactions: principles and practice. Aust Prescr 2012; 35:85–8.
2. Levêque D, Lemachatti J, Nivoix Y, et al. Mécanismes des interactions médicamenteuses d'origine pharmacocinétique. Mechanisms of pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions. Rev Med Interne. 2010;31(2):170-179.
3. Palleria C, Di Paolo A, Giofrè C, et al. Pharmacokinetic drug-drug interaction and their implication in clinical management. J Res Med Sci. 2013;18(7):601-610.
4. Corrie, Kathryn et al. Mechanisms of drug interactions: pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics. Anaesthesia & Intensive Care Medicine. 2017;18(7): 331 – 334.
5. Tannenbaum C, Sheehan NL. Understanding and preventing drug-drug and drug-gene interactions. Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 2014;7(4):533-544.
6. Mutalik, Madhav. Review of Drug Interactions: A comprehensive update. British journal of pharmaceutical research. 2014;4: 954 – 980.
Dr Kinjal Patel
Medical Microbiologist with an aptitude for holistic wellness and serving community with so far acquired knowledge. A dedicated reader in pursuit of improving human lives by transforming laboratory medicine and sharing pearls of medicine. Her life's mantra is "do what you love or love what you do".
