This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Althesin is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
Althesin is an intravenous anaesthetic agent now withdrawn from the market due to severe drug reactions. It was popular because of its short duration of action. It is composed of a mixture of alphaxolone and alphadolone, two steroids. It provides rapid onset of action and recovery.
Cremophor EL was the solubilizing agent (excipient / additive) of Althesin.
Some authors have said "It should be emphasized that there is no evidence of any toxic action from Cremophor in man. The toxic effects or reactions to Propanidid and Althesin are due to the drugs themselves" 1.
However, more recent literature 2 state that Cremophor EL (aka Polyoxyl 35 Castor Oil, a surfactant and derivative of castor oil), when previously used as a solubilising agent in lipid emulsions (such as propofol, vitamin K, and Althesin), was responsible for severe anaphylactoid reactions. Propofol was reformulated as a Soya Bean Oil emulsion ("Diprivan"), and Vitamin K ("Konakion") is also free of Cremophor EL (see product descriptions).
Alphaxolone/Alphadolone has been re-branded as "Saffan" (Pitman-Moore Pharmaceuticals Ltd) and is available for use in veterinary anaesthesia. 3
References
- ^ "A new Steroid Anaesthetic - Althesin in Proc. roy. Soc. Med. Volume 66 October 1973" (pdf). PubMed. Retrieved on 2007-01-07. See page 1/49
- ^ Pharmaceutics for the Anaesthetist, MacPherson, Anaesthesia. 2001 Oct;56(10):965-79
- ^ "Pharmacology - Intravenous Anaesthesia & Dissociatives" (pdf). Oklahoma State University.
 |
This pharmacology-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 12 June 2008, at 23:33.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Althesin".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.