Adverse drug reactions

Clinical pharmacy Adverse drug reactions

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Definitions

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines an ADR as ‘a response to a drug that is noxious and unintended and occurs at doses normally used in man for the prophylaxis, diagnosis or therapy of disease, or for modification of physiological function.

The terms ADR and adverse drug effect can be used interchangeably; adverse reaction applies to the patient's point of view, while adverse effect applies to the drug.
Although the term ‘side effect’ and ADR are often used synonymously, the term ‘side effect’ is distinct from ADR. A side effect is an unintended effect of a drug related to its pharmacological properties and can include unexpected benefits of treatment.

The WHO definition has been criticised for excluding the potential for contamination of a product, ADRs that include an element of error, and ADRs associated with pharmacologically inactive excipients in a product.
The use of the term ‘drug’ also excluded the use of complementary and alternative treatments, such as herbal products.

In an attempt to overcome these points, the following definition of an ADR was proposed, ‘An appreciably harmful or unpleasant reaction, resulting from an intervention related to the use of a medicinal product, which predicts hazard from future administration and warrants prevention or specific treatment, or alteration of the dosage regime, or withdrawal of the product.

Classification of ADRs

Rawlins–Thompson classification
The Rawlins–Thompson system of classification divides ADRs into two main groups: Type A and Type B.
Type A reactions are the normal, but quantitatively exaggerated, pharmacological effects of a drug. They include the primary pharmacological effect of the drug, as well as any secondary pharmacological effects of the drug.


Example: ADRs caused by the antimuscarinic activity of tricyclic antidepressants. Type A reactions are most common, accounting for 80% of reactions.
Type B reactions are qualitatively abnormal effects, which appear unrelated to the drug's normal pharmacology, such as hepatoxicity from isoniazid. They are more serious in nature, more likely to cause deaths, and are often not discovered until after a drug has been marketed.

The Rawlins–Thompson classification has undergone further elaboration over the years (Table 5.1) to take account of ADRs that do not fit within the existing classifications.

The DoTS system

The DoTS classification is based on Dose relatedness, Timing and patient Susceptibility.
In contrast to the Rawlins–Thompson classification, which is defined only by the properties of the drug and the reaction, the DoTS classification provides a useful template to examine the various factors that both describe a reaction and influence an individual patient's susceptibility.

DoTS first considers the dose of the drug, as many adverse effects are clearly related to the dose of the drug used. For example, increasing the dose of a cardiac glycoside will increase the risk of digitalis toxicity.
In DoTS, reactions are divided into toxic effects (effects related to the use of drugs outside of their usual therapeutic dosage), collateral effects (effects occurring within the normal therapeutic use of the drug) and hyper- susceptibility reactions (reactions occurring in sub-therapeutic doses in susceptible patients).

The time course of a drug's presence at the site of action can influence the likelihood of an ADR occurring.
For example, rapid infusion of furosemide is associated with transient hearing loss and tinnitus, and a constant low dose of methotrexate is more toxic than equivalent intermittent bolus doses.

DoTS categorises ADRs as either time-independent reactions or time dependent reactions.

Time-independent reactions occur at any time within the treatment period, regardless of the length of course.
Time-dependent reactions range from rapid and immediate reactions, to those reactions which can be delayed.

• Factors affecting susceptibility to ADRs

The risk that drugs pose to patients varies dependent on the population exposed and the individual characteristics of patients.
Some reactions may be unseen in some populations, outside of susceptible subjects. Other reactions may follow a continuous distribution in the exposed population.

Age
Elderly patients may be more prone to ADRs, with age-related decline in both the metabolism and elimination of drugs from the body.
They also have multiple co-morbidities and are, therefore, exposed to more prescribed drugs.
As the population ages, the mitigation of preventable ADRs in the elderly will become increasingly important.

Children differ from adults in their response to drugs.

Neonatal differences in body composition, metabolism and other physiological parameters can increase the risk of specific adverse reactions.
Higher body water content can increase the volume of distribution for water-soluble drugs.

Reduced albumin and total protein may result in higher concentrations of highly protein bound drugs.
An immature blood–brain barrier can increase sensitivity to drugs such as morphine.
probability of dosing errors and the relative lack of evidence for both safety and efficacy.


Differences in drug metabolism and elimination and end-organ responses can also increase the risk.
Chloramphenicol, digoxin, and ototoxic antibiotics such as streptomycin are examples of drugs that have a higher risk of toxicity in the first weeks of life.

Older children and young adults may also be more susceptible to ADRs, a classic example being the increased risk of extrapyramidal effects associated with metoclopramide.
The use of aspirin was restricted in those under the age of 12, after an association with Reye's syndrome was found in epidemiological studies.

Gender

Women may be more susceptible to ADRs. For example, impairment of concentration and psychiatric adverse events associated with the anti-malarial mefloquine are more common in females. Females are more susceptible to drug-induced torsade de pointes, a ventricular arrhythmia linked to ventricular fibrillation and death.

Co-morbidities and concomitant medicines use

Reductions in hepatic and renal function substantially increase the risk of ADRs. A recent study examining factors that predicted repeat admissions to hospital with ADRs in older patients showed that co-morbidities such as congestive cardiac failure, diabetes, and peripheral vascular, chronic pulmonary, rheumatologic, hepatic, renal, and malignant diseases were strong predictors of readmissions for ADRs, while advancing age was not.

Reasons for this could be pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic changes associated with pulmonary, cardiovascular, renal and hepatic insufficiency, or drug interactions because of multiple drug therapy.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity has also been linked to susceptibility to ADRs, due to inherited traits of metabolism.
It is known, for example, that the cytochrome P450 genotype, involved in drug metabolism, has varied distribution among people of differing ethnicity.

For example, CYP2C9 alleles associated with poor metabolism can affect warfarin metabolism and increase the risk of toxicity. This occurs more frequently in white individuals compared to black individuals. Examples of ADRs linked to ethnicity include the increased risk of angioedema with the use of ACE inhibitors in black patients.



Pharmacogenetics
Pharmacogenetics is the study of genetic variations that influence an individual's response to drugs, and examines polymorphisms that code for drug transporters, drug-metabolising enzymes and drug receptors.

There are some important examples of severe ADRs that may be avoided with knowledge of a patient's genetic susceptibility.
Major genetic variation is found in the cytochrome CYP450 group of isoenzymes. This can result in either inadequate responses to drugs, or increased risk of ADRs.

Clinically relevant genetic variation has been seen in CYP2D6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19 and CYP3A5. A large effect on the metabolism of drugs can occur with CYP2C9, which accounts for 20% of total hepatic CYP450 content.

Studies of genetic polymorphisms influencing the toxicity of warfarin have focused on CYP2C9, which metabolises warfarin and vitamin K epoxide reductase (VKOR), the target of warfarin anticoagulant activity.

G6PD deficiency is present in over 400 million people worldwide.

It is a sex-linked inherited enzyme deficiency,
leading to susceptibility to haemolytic anaemia.
Patients with low levels of G6PD are predisposed to haemolysis with oxidant drugs such as primaquine, sulphonamides and nitrofurantoin.

Immunological reactions

The immune system is able to recognise drugs as foreign substances, leading to allergic reactions.
Smaller drug molecules (<600 Da) can bind with proteins to trigger an immune response, or larger molecules can trigger an immune response directly.
The immune response is not related to the pharmacological action of the drug and prior exposure to the drug is required.

Immunological reactions are often distinct recognizable responses.

Allergic reactions range from rashes, serum sickness and angioedema to the life-threatening bronchospasm and hypotension associated with anaphylaxis. Patients with a history of atopic or allergic disorders are at higher risk.

Pharmacovigilance

pharmacovigilance has been defined as ‘the study of the safety of marketed drugs under the practical conditions of clinical use in large communities’.
It is concerned with the detection, assessment and prevention of adverse effects or any other possible drug-related problems, with the ultimate goal of achieving rational and safe therapeutic decisions in clinical practice.

Monitoring therapy

Monitoring the effects of drugs either by direct measurement of serum concentration or by measurement of physiological markers is another potential mechanism to reduce the risk of ADRs. For example, it has been estimated that one in four of preventable drug-related hospital admissions are caused by failure to monitor renal function and electrolytes.

Clozapine, used for the management of treatment resistant schizophrenia and psychosis, is associated with significant risk of agranulocytosis. Mandatory monitoring of white blood cell counts has effectively eliminated the risk of fatal agranulocytosis.