title: Flucytosine: correlation between toxicity and pharmacokinetic parameters.
abstract: Flucytosine (5-fluorocytosine, 5-FC) is a systemic antimycotic drug the major toxicities of which are bone marrow depression and hepatotoxicity. The purpose of this observational and retrospective study was to assess a possible relationship between toxicity and 5-FC pharmacokinetics within a group of 53 intensive care unit patients. The presented results reveal that thrombocytopenia is associated with a decreased 5-FC clearance and that the thrombocyte nadir is linearly related to the 5-FC clearance. Furthermore, patients experiencing 5-FC levels exceeding 100 mg 5-FC/l were found to be at a higher risk of developing thrombocytopenia and hepatotoxicity as compared to those not exceeding this level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vermes
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: van Der Sijs
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Guchelaar
mesh_terms: D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000187:drug effects; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000188:drug therapy; D005437:Flucytosine / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D016014:Linear Models; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: D005437:Flucytosine