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Caballero ML, Krantz MS, Quirce S, Phillips EJ, Stone CA. Hidden Dangers: Recognizing Excipients as Potential Causes of Drug and Vaccine Hypersensitivity Reactions. THE JOURNAL OF ALLERGY AND CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY. IN PRACTICE 2021; 9:2968-2982. [PMID: 33737254 PMCID: PMC8355062 DOI: 10.1016/j.jaip.2021.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Excipients are necessary as a support to the active ingredients in drugs, vaccines, and other products, and they contribute to their stability, preservation, pharmacokinetics, bioavailability, appearance, and acceptability. For both drugs and vaccines, these are rare reactions; however, for vaccines, they are the primary cause of immediate hypersensitivity. Suspicion for these "hidden dangers" should be high, in particular, when anaphylaxis has occurred in association with multiple chemically distinct drugs. Common excipients implicated include gelatin, carboxymethylcellulose, polyethylene glycols, and products related to polyethylene glycols in immediate hypersensitivity reactions and propylene glycol in delayed hypersensitivity reactions. Complete evaluation of a suspected excipient reaction requires detailed information from the product monograph and package insert to identify all ingredients that are present and to understand the function and structure for these chemicals. This knowledge helps develop a management plan that may include allergy testing to identify the implicated component and to give patients detailed information for future avoidance of relevant foods, drugs, and vaccines. Excipient reactions should be particularly considered for specific classes of drugs where they have been commonly found to be the culprit (eg, corticosteroids, injectable hormones, immunotherapies, monoclonal antibodies, and vaccines). We provide a review of the evidence-based literature outlining epidemiology and mechanisms of excipient reactions and provide strategies for heightened recognition and allergy testing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Matthew S Krantz
- Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn
| | - Santiago Quirce
- Department of Allergy, La Paz University Hospital, IdiPAZ, Madrid, Spain; Department of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Elizabeth J Phillips
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn; Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn; Institute of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia
| | - Cosby A Stone
- Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tenn.
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Reker D, Blum SM, Steiger C, Anger KE, Sommer JM, Fanikos J, Traverso G. "Inactive" ingredients in oral medications. Sci Transl Med 2019; 11:eaau6753. [PMID: 30867323 PMCID: PMC7122736 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aau6753] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2018] [Accepted: 02/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Oral forms of medications contain "inactive" ingredients to enhance their physical properties. Using data analytics, we characterized the abundance and complexity of inactive ingredients in approved medications. A majority of medications contain ingredients that could cause adverse reactions, underscoring the need to maximize the tolerability and safety of medications and their inactive ingredients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Reker
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Steven M Blum
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Christoph Steiger
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
| | - Kevin E Anger
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Jamie M Sommer
- Investigational Drug Service, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - John Fanikos
- Investigational Drug Service, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Giovanni Traverso
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
- Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopy, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
- Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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Vaillancourt R, Siddiqui R, Vadeboncoeur C, Rattray M, Larivière D. Treatment of Medication Intolerance with Lactase in A Complex Palliative Care Patient. J Palliat Care 2018. [DOI: 10.1177/082585970902500211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Rabiah Siddiqui
- Roger's House Pediatric Palliative Hospice, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Marion Rattray
- Roger's House Pediatric Palliative Hospice, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| | - Doris Larivière
- Roger's House Pediatric Palliative Hospice, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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Mill D, Dawson J, Johnson JL. Managing acute pain in patients who report lactose intolerance: the safety of an old excipient re-examined. Ther Adv Drug Saf 2018; 9:227-235. [PMID: 29796247 DOI: 10.1177/2042098617751498] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2016] [Accepted: 12/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Lactose intolerance is exceedingly common, reportedly affecting up to 70% of the world's population, leading to both abdominal and systemic symptoms. Current treatment focuses predominantly on restricting dietary consumption of lactose. Given lactose is one of the most commonly used excipients in the pharmaceutical industry, consideration must be given to the lactose content and therefore safety of pharmaceutical preparations prescribed for patients with lactose intolerance. This article summarizes the current literature examining the likelihood of inducing adverse effects through the administration of lactose-containing pharmaceutical preparations in patients reporting lactose intolerance, describes how to assess this risk on an individual patient basis and reviews suitable analgesic options for this population. A case study is presented detailing a patient reporting lactose intolerance who insists on treatment with the lactose-free product codeine/ibuprofen (Nurofen Plus) rather than other codeine-free analgesics. It is important to assess the likelihood of lactose as an excipient inducing symptoms in this scenario, as reluctance to cease codeine could suggest codeine dependence, an issue that is becoming increasingly common in countries such as Australia and Canada. Given codeine dependence is associated with serious sequelae including hospitalization and death, the patient must either be reassured the lactose component in their prescribed analgesics will not induce symptoms or an alternative treatment strategy must be confirmed. General recommendations applying theory from the literature to the management of acute pain in lactose-intolerant patients are discussed and specific treatment options are outlined. Although large inter-individual variability is reported, most lactose-intolerant patients can tolerate the small quantities of lactose found in pharmaceutical preparations. Cumulative lactose exposure can be assessed in patients taking multiple medications while also consuming lactose in the diet. In those sensitive to small quantities of lactose, lactase supplements can be trailed. Additionally, for the analgesic drug classes employed for the management of acute pain, lactose-free formulations, including most oral liquids and dispersible tablets and some oral tablets and capsules, are available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deanna Mill
- University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Jessica Dawson
- Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia
| | - Jacinta Lee Johnson
- University of South Australia Division of Health Sciences, City East Campus, Corner Frome Rd and North Tce, Adelaide, South Australia, 5001, Australia
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Ohrem HL, Schornick E, Kalivoda A, Ognibene R. Why is mannitol becoming more and more popular as a pharmaceutical excipient in solid dosage forms? Pharm Dev Technol 2013; 19:257-62. [DOI: 10.3109/10837450.2013.775154] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
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Abdominalschmerzen und Diarrhoe durch Kalziumsubstitution – Fallbericht einer Patientin mit Laktoseintoleranz. Wien Med Wochenschr 2012; 162:110-4. [DOI: 10.1007/s10354-012-0064-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2012] [Accepted: 01/23/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Noiles K, Vender R. Are excipients really inert ingredients? A review of adverse reactions to excipients in oral dermatologic medications in Canada. J Cutan Med Surg 2010; 14:105-14. [PMID: 20487670 DOI: 10.2310/7750.2010.09027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Whereas several literature reviews have discussed the role of excipients in drug-related reactions, no article has focused specifically on those found in oral dermatologic medications. METHODS The Compendium of Pharmaceuticals and Specialties (CPS) was used to reference the inert ingredients found in oral dermatologic medications. An extensive literature review was subsequently conducted using PubMed and MEDLINE to document adverse reactions to these excipients. RESULTS Sixty-three oral dermatologic medications were reviewed. Lactose was commonly used as a filler. Several medications indicated that they were dye, tartrazine, or gluten free. Three medications were found to contain soybean oil and one was found to contain peanut oil. CONCLUSIONS Although there are documented reactions to excipients in other products in the literature, few reports outline reactions to excipients in oral dermatologic medications. Whether this low frequency is accurate or whether it is due to a lack of reporting remains unknown. If the latter reasoning is correct, dermatologists must be more aware of these possible reactions. This article serves as a reference guide for dermatologists to aid in prescribing medications to individuals with known sensitivities and to assist in working up patients with suspected reactions to inert ingredients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin Noiles
- Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON.
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Eadala P, Waud JP, Matthews SB, Green JT, Campbell AK. Quantifying the 'hidden' lactose in drugs used for the treatment of gastrointestinal conditions. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2009; 29:677-87. [PMID: 19035974 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2008.03889.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Lactose intolerance affects 70% of the world population and may result in abdominal and systemic symptoms. Treatment focuses predominantly on the dietary restriction of food products containing lactose. Lactose is the most common form of excipient used in drug formulations and may be overlooked when advising these patients. AIM To identify and quantify the amount of lactose in medications used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders and to identify 'lactose-free' preparations. METHODS Medications used for the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders were identified from the British National Formulary (BNF). Their formulation including excipients was obtained from the Medicines Compendium. The lactose content and quantity in selected medications was measured using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). RESULTS A wide range of medications prescribed for the treatment of gastrointestinal conditions contain lactose. We have quantified the lactose content in a selection of medications using HPLC. Lactose is present in amounts that may contribute towards symptoms. Lactose-free alternatives were also identified. CONCLUSIONS Lactose is present in a range of medications and may contribute towards symptoms. This may not be recognized by the prescribing doctor as excipients are not listed in the BNF, and the quantity of lactose is not listed on the label or in the accompanying manufacturer's leaflet.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Eadala
- Department of Gastroenterology, Llandough Hospital, Cardiff CF642XX, UK.
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Montalto M, Gallo A, Santoro L, D'Onofrio F, Curigliano V, Covino M, Cammarota G, Grieco A, Gasbarrini A, Gasbarrini G. Low-dose lactose in drugs neither increases breath hydrogen excretion nor causes gastrointestinal symptoms. Aliment Pharmacol Ther 2008; 28:1003-12. [PMID: 18657134 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2008.03815.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Despite the reported tolerance to a low dose of lactose, many lactose malabsorbers follow a rigorous lactose-free diet also avoiding lactose-containing drugs. Up to now, only a few case reports have described the onset of gastrointestinal symptoms in lactose malabsorbers following the ingestion of these drugs. It has been suggested that capsules/tablets contain no more than 400 mg of lactose. AIM To evaluate breath H(2) excretion and intolerance symptoms after ingestion of a capsule containing 400 mg of lactose or placebo through a randomized, cross-over, double-blind, controlled study. METHODS Seventy-seven lactose maldigesters with intolerance underwent two H2 breath tests with both 400 mg of lactose and 400 mg of placebo. Gastrointestinal symptoms occurring in the 8 h following the ingestion of different substrates were evaluated by a visual-analogue scale. RESULTS Ingestion of 400 mg of lactose did not cause a significant difference in breath H2 excretion or in the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms compared to placebo. CONCLUSION In patients with lactase deficiency, drugs containing 400 mg of lactose or less can be used safely.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Montalto
- Institute of Internal Medicine, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Lactose, beta-galactose-1,4-glucose, is hydrolysed by the enzyme lactase. Lactose intolerance occurs when lactase deficiency causes clinical symptoms. AIMS To provide an overview of lactose intolerance, including definition, aetiology and epidemiology, the clinical symptoms and diagnostic testing and management. METHODS A literature review was carried out to meet the aims of this paper. This resulted in the analysis of a database of patients tested for lactose intolerance to provide examples of the consequences of problems of terminology identified. CONCLUSIONS The terminology relating to lactose intolerance is confusing for clinicians and researchers. Clinicians need to ensure that these problematic terms do not cause diagnostic mistakes and inappropriate treatment. Researchers should be aware of inconsistent terminology in studies and resultant problems with the interpretation of results.
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Affiliation(s)
- L K Harrington
- Department of Gastroenterology, Leicester General Hospital, Leicester, UK.
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