Current Awareness in Clinical Toxicology Editors: Damian Ballam Msc and Allister Vale MD
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Current Awareness in Clinical Toxicology Editors: Damian Ballam MSc and Allister Vale MD February 2016 CONTENTS General Toxicology 9 Metals 38 Management 21 Pesticides 41 Drugs 23 Chemical Warfare 42 Chemical Incidents & 32 Plants 43 Pollution Chemicals 33 Animals 43 CURRENT AWARENESS PAPERS OF THE MONTH How toxic is ibogaine? Litjens RPW, Brunt TM. Clin Toxicol 2016; online early: doi: 10.3109/15563650.2016.1138226: Context Ibogaine is a psychoactive indole alkaloid found in the African rainforest shrub Tabernanthe Iboga. It is unlicensed but used in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction. However, reports of ibogaine's toxicity are cause for concern. Objectives To review ibogaine's pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, mechanisms of action and reported toxicity. Methods A search of the literature available on PubMed was done, using the keywords "ibogaine" and "noribogaine". The search criteria were "mechanism of action", "pharmacokinetics", "pharmacodynamics", "neurotransmitters", "toxicology", "toxicity", "cardiac", "neurotoxic", "human data", "animal data", "addiction", "anti-addictive", "withdrawal", "death" and "fatalities". The searches identified 382 unique references, of which 156 involved human data. Further research revealed 14 detailed toxicological case reports. Current Awareness in Clinical Toxicology is produced monthly for the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology by the Birmingham Unit of the UK National Poisons Information Service, with contributions from the Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Newcastle Units. The NPIS is commissioned by Public Health England Current Awareness in Clinical Toxicology Editors: Damian Ballam MSc and Allister Vale MD February 2016 Current Awareness in Clinical Toxicology is produced monthly for the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology by the Birmingham Unit of the UK National Poisons Information Service, with contributions from the Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Newcastle Units. The NPIS is commissioned by Public Health England 3 Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics Ibogaine is metabolized mainly by CYP2D6 to the primary metabolite noribogaine (10- hydroxyibogamine). Noribogaine is present in clinically relevant concentrations for days, long after ibogaine has been cleared. Mechanisms of action Ibogaine and noribogaine interact with multiple neurotransmitter systems. They show micromolar affinity for N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), κ- and µ-opioid receptors and sigma-2 receptor sites. Furthermore, ibogaine has been shown to interact with the acetylcholine, serotonin and dopamine systems; it alters the expression of several proteins including substance P, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), c-fos and egr-1. Neurotoxicity Neurodegeneration was shown in rats, probably mediated by stimulation of the inferior olive, which has excitotoxic effects on Purkinje cells in the cerebellum. Neurotoxic effects of ibogaine may not be directly relevant to its anti-addictive properties, as no signs of neurotoxicity were found following doses lower than 25 mg/kg intra-peritoneal in rats. Noribogaine might be less neurotoxic than ibogaine. Cardiotoxicity Ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) potassium channels in the heart might play a crucial role in ibogaine's cardiotoxicity, as hERG channels are vital in the repolarization phase of cardiac action potentials and blockade by ibogaine delays this repolarization, resulting in QT (time interval between the start of the Q wave and the end of the T wave in the electrical cycle of the heart) interval prolongation and, subsequently, in arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest. Twenty-seven fatalities have been reported following the ingestion of ibogaine, and pre- existing cardiovascular conditions have been implicated in the death of individuals for which post-mortem data were available. However, in this review, 8 case reports are presented which suggest that ibogaine caused ventricular tachyarrhythmias and prolongation of the QT interval in individuals without any pre-existing cardiovascular condition or family history. Noribogaine appears at least as harmful to cardiac functioning as ibogaine. Toxicity from drug-drug interaction Polymorphism in the CYP2D6 enzyme can influence blood concentrations of both ibogaine and its primary metabolite, which may have implications when a patient is taking other medication that is subject to significant CYP2D6 metabolism. Conclusions Alternative therapists and drug users are still using iboga extract, root scrapings, and ibogaine hydrochloride to treat drug addiction. With limited medical supervision, these are risky experiments and more ibogaine-related deaths are likely to occur, particularly in those with pre-existing cardiac conditions and those taking concurrent medications. Full text available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/15563650.2016.1138226 Systematic review of the effect of intravenous lipid emulsion therapy for local anesthetic toxicity Hoegberg LCG, Bania TC, Lavergne V, Bailey B, Turgeon AF, Thomas SHL, Morris M, Miller-Nesbitt A, Mégarbane B, Magder S, Gosselin S, Lipid Emulsion Workgroup. Clin Toxicol 2016; online early: doi: 10.3109/15563650.2015.1121270: Background Following national and regional recommendations, intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE) has 4 become established in clinical practice as a treatment for acute local anesthetic (LA) toxicity, although evidence of efficacy is limited to animal studies and human case reports. A collaborative lipid emulsion workgroup was therefore established by the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology to review the evidence on the effect of ILE for LA toxicity. Methods We performed a systematic review of the literature published through 15 December 2014. Relevant articles were determined based on pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Pre- treatment experiments, pharmacokinetic studies not involving toxicity and studies that did not address antidotal use of ILE were excluded. Results We included 113 studies and reports. Of these, 76 were human and 38 animal studies. One publication included both a human case report and an animal study. Human studies included one randomized controlled crossover trial involving 16 healthy volunteers. The subclinical LA toxicity design did not show a difference in the effects of ILE versus saline. There was one case series and 73 case reports of ILE use in the context of toxicity (83 patients) including CNS depression or agitation (n = 45, 54%), seizures (n = 49, 59%), hypotension, hypertension, EKG changes, arrhythmias (n = 39, 47%), cardiac arrest (n = 18, 22%), cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and/or requirement for endotracheal intubation and/or mechanical ventilation (n = 35, 42%). There were 81 (98%) survivors including 63 (76%) with no reported sequelae from the LA poisoning or ILE, although the presence or absence of sequelae was not reported in 15 (18%) cases. Animal studies included 29 randomized controlled studies, three observational studies, five case series, and one case report; bupivacaine was used in 29 of these reports (76%). Of 14 controlled experiments in animals, eight showed improved survival or time to return of spontaneous circulation and five no benefit of ILE versus saline or non-ILE treatments. Combining ILE with epinephrine improved survival in five of the six controlled animal experiments that studied this intervention. The studies were heterogeneous in the formulations and doses of ILE used as well as the doses of LA. The body of the literature identified by this systematic review yielded only a very low quality of evidence. Conclusion ILE appears to be effective for reversal of cardiovascular or neurological features in some cases of LA toxicity, but there is currently no convincing evidence showing that ILE is more effective than vasopressors or to indicate which treatment should be instituted as first line therapy in severe LA toxicity. Full text available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/15563650.2015.1121270 Systematic review of the effect of intravenous lipid emulsion therapy for non-local anesthetics toxicity Levine M, Hoffman RS, Lavergne V, Stork CM, Graudins A, Chuang R, Stellpflug SJ, Morris M, Miller-Nesbitt A, Gosselin S, for the AACT Lipid Emulsion Workgroup. Clin Toxicol 2016; online early: doi: 10.3109/15563650.2015.1126286: Background The use of intravenous lipid emulsion (ILE) therapy for the treatment of lipophilic drug toxicity is increasing. Despite this, the evidence for its effect in non-local anesthetic toxicity remains sparse. Furthermore, many case reports describe ILE use for substances in which no clear efficacy data exists. The American Academy of Clinical Toxicology established a lipid 5 emulsion workgroup. The aim of this group is to review the available evidence regarding the effect of ILE in non-LA drug poisoning and develop consensus-based recommendations on the use of this therapy. Methods A systematic review of the literature was performed to capture articles through 15 December 2014. Relevant articles were determined based upon a predefined methodology. Articles involving pre-treatment experiments, pharmacokinetic studies not involving toxicity, and studies not addressing antidotal use of ILE met pre-defined exclusion criteria. Agreement of at least two members of the subgroup was required before an article could be excluded. Results The final analysis included 203 articles: 141 for humans and 62 for animals. These include 40 animal experiments and 22 case reports involving animal toxicity. There were three human randomized control trials (RCT): one RCT examined