Yasutomi Kinosada

Drug-induced gingival hyperplasia (DIGH) causes problems with chewing, aesthetics, and pronunciation, and leads to the deterioration of the patient’s quality of life (QOL). Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of DIGH using spontaneous reporting system (SRS) databases. We analyzed reports of DIGH from SRS databases and calculated the reporting odds ratios (RORs) of suspected drugs (immunosuppressants, calcium channel blockers, and anticonvulsants). The SRS databases used were the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report (JADER) database. With the data, we evaluated the time-to-onset profile and the hazard type using the Weibull shape parameter (WSP). Furthermore, we used the association rule mining technique to discover undetected relationships such as possible risk factors. The FAERS contained 5,821,716 reports. The RORs (95% confidence interval: CI) for cyclosporine, everolimus, sirolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, amlodipine, nifedipine, carbamazepine, clobazam, levetiracetam, phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone, topiramate, and valproic acid, were 39.4 (95% CI: 30.3–51.2), 4.2 (1.7–10.0), 6.6 (2.5–17.7), 13.1 (7.2–23.2), 94.8 (80.0–112.9), 57.9 (35.7–94.0), 15.1 (10.3–22.3), 65.4 (33.8–126.7), 6.5 (3.6–11.8), 19.7 (8.8–44.0), 65.4 (52.4–82.9), 56.5 (21.1–151.7), 2.9 (1.1–7.7), and 17.5 (12.6–24.4), respectively. The JADER database contained 430,587 reports. The median time-to-onset of gingival hyperplasia values for immunosuppressants, calcium channel blockers, and anticonvulsants use were 71, 262, and 37 days, respectively. Furthermore, the 95% CI of the WSP β for anticonvulsants was over and excluded 1, which meant that they were wear-out failure type. Our results suggest that DIGH monitoring of patients administered immunosuppressants, calcium channel blockers, or anticonvulsants is important. We demonstrated the potential risk of DIGH following the long-term use of calcium channel blocker over approximately 260 days. Based on the results of the association rule mining approach, patients with intellectual disability who are administered phenytoin should be monitored carefully. We recommend that patients who experience symptoms related to DIGH should be closely monitored.

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs play an important role in self-medication. To ensure patient safety, pharmacists should ask patients to pay attention to possible adverse events (AE) associated with OTC drugs and educate patients about the symptoms related to those AEs. The aims of the present study were as follows: (1) to assess the tendency of AEs to occur with OTC drug use in Japan; (2) to detect a safety signal for OTC drugs using the reporting odds ratio (ROR); and (3) to evaluate clustery features, which include suspected drugs and therapeutic classifications, and safety signal indices (number of reports and the ROR), using cluster analysis. The number of reports of AEs following use of combination cold remedy, antipyretic and analgesic remedy, and herbal medicine was 1007, 566, and 221, respectively. We set the cluster number at five; clustery features obtained were as follows: (1) high reporting rate for skin and subcutaneous tissue disorder AEs was the largest group related to combination cold remedy; (2) high reporting rate for nervous system disorder AEs including dizziness was the second largest group. The same medicinal ingredient may demonstrate similar tendencies of the occurrence of AEs and similar clustery features in the Japanese Adverse Drug Event Report database. Our analysis of AEs associated with OTC drugs may be useful for pharmacists and patients alike. Further studies are required to draw better-informed conclusions.

Antipsychotics are potent dopamine antagonists used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between antipsychotic drugs and adverse hyperglycemic events using the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database. In particular, we focused on adverse hyperglycemic events associated with atypical antipsychotic use, which are major concerns. We analyzed reports of adverse hyperglycemic events associated with 26 antipsychotic drugs in the FAERS database from January 2004 to March 2013. The Standardized Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities Queries (SMQ) preferred terms (PTs) was used to identify adverse hyperglycemic events. The number of adverse hyperglycemic reports for the top eight antipsychotic drugs, quetiapine, olanzapine, risperidone, aripiprazole, haloperidol, clozapine, prochlorperazine, and chlorpromazine was 12,471 (28.9%), 8,423 (37.9%), 5,968 (27.0%), 4,045 (23.7%), 3,445 (31.5%), 2,614 (14.3%), 1,800 (19.8%), and 1,003 (35.7%), respectively. The reporting ratio increased with co-administration of multiple antipsychotic drugs. For example, adverse hyperglycemic events represented 21.6% of reports for quetiapine monotherapy, 39.9% for two-drug polypharmacy, and 66.3% for three-drug polypharmacy. Antipsychotic drug polypharmacy may influence signal strength, and may be associated with hyperglycemia. After considering the causality restraints of the current analysis, further robust epidemiological studies are recommended.