Etoricoxib-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis: A fatal case report

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, A Serious Side Effect of Tenoxicam Use: A Case Report

Tenoxicam, a selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor, has potent analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects and is frequently used for out-of-hospital pain control. Even though other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were incriminated in Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) appearance, the literature is scarce regarding this agent. We report a case of tenoxicam-induced toxic epidermal necrolysis, detailing the multidisciplinary approach in a patient presenting skin detachment of 90% of the total body surface area, with concomitant ocular, oral, nasal, and vaginal mucosae involvement. A skin biopsy confirmed the diagnosis. The immediate cessation of the incriminated drug and rapid initiation of systemic steroids, along with topical therapies, and isolation into a specific environmental condition to limit skin infection were the cornerstones of therapeutic management. The patient was discharged with skin hyperpigmentation area and mild anxiety as long-term sequels. This report emphasized that severe or complicated cases should be transferred to a specialized burn center to reduce mortality risk and long-term morbidity.

Positive experience with TNF-α inhibitor in toxic epidermal necrolysis resistant to high-dose systemic corticosteroids

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) are rare, potentially life-threatening syndromes characterized by the development of necrotic epidermal and mucosal lesions. The most common etiologic cause of SJS/TEN is drug-induced mechanisms. The group of drugs with high potential risk includes sulfonamides, anticonvulsants, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), allopurinol, phenobarbital, etc. There is no gold standard treatment algorithm for SJS/TEN. In medical practice, systemic glucocorticosteroids (sGCS), intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), plasmapheresis, and cyclosporine are used empirically and in various combinations. Recently published studies have demonstrated the efficacy of TNF-α inhibitors as a promising approach in SJS/TEN, including cases resistant to high-dose sGCS, with etanercept and infliximab being the most commonly used drugs. In a large multicenter study by Zhang J et al. (XXXX), 242 patients treated with etanercept, sGCS, or a combination of both had lower mortality compared to the control group. A shorter skin healing time was documented compared to sGCS monotherapy, thus reducing the risk of secondary infections. The published data show a high efficacy with THF-α inhibitor blockade, but the safety of TNF-α inhibitors in patients with SJS/TEN is still questionable due to the paucity of available information. As all clinical research data should be accumulated to provide reliable evidence that the use of TNF-α inhibitors may be beneficial in SJS/TEN, we report a case of etoricoxib-associated SJS with progression to TEN in a 50-year-old woman who was refractory to high-dose sGCS therapy.

Current Pharmacogenetic Perspective on Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis

Adverse drug reactions are a public health issue that draws widespread attention, especially for Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) which have high mortality and lack of efficacious treatment. Though T-cell-mediated HLA-interacted immune response has been extensively studied, our understanding of the mechanism is far from satisfactory. This review summarizes infection (virus, bacterial, and mycoplasma infection), an environmental risk factor, as a trigger for SJS/TEN. The mutations or polymorphisms of drug metabolic enzymes, transporters, receptors, the immune system genes, and T-cell-mediated apoptosis signaling pathways that contribute to SJS/TEN are discussed and summarized. Epigenetics, metabolites, and mobilization of regulatory T cells and tolerogenic myeloid precursors are emerged directions to study SJS/TEN. Ex vivo lymphocyte transformation test has been exploited to aid in identifying the causative drugs. Critical questions on the pathogenesis of SJS/TEN underlying gene polymorphisms and T cell cytotoxicity remain: why some of the patients carrying the risky genes tolerate the drug and do not develop SJS/TEN? What makes the skin and mucous membrane so special to be targeted? Do they relate to skin/mucous expression of transporters? What is the common machinery underlying different HLA-B alleles associated with SJS/TEN and common metabolites?

Analgesia for Sheep in Commercial Production: Where to Next?

Simple Summary

Increasing societal and customer pressure to provide animals with ‘a life worth living’ continues to apply pressure on industry to alleviate pain associated with husbandry practices, injury and illness. Although a number of analgesic solutions are now available for sheep, providing some amelioration of the acute pain responses, this review has highlighted a number of potential areas for further research.

Abstract

Increasing societal and customer pressure to provide animals with ‘a life worth living’ continues to apply pressure on livestock production industries to alleviate pain associated with husbandry practices, injury and illness. Over the past 15–20 years, there has been considerable research effort to understand and develop mitigation strategies for painful husbandry procedures in sheep, leading to the successful launch of analgesic approaches specific to sheep in a number of countries. However, even with multi-modal approaches to analgesia, using both local anaesthetic and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), pain is not obliterated, and the challenge of pain mitigation and phasing out of painful husbandry practices remains. It is timely to review and reflect on progress to date in order to strategically focus on the most important challenges, and the avenues which offer the greatest potential to be incorporated into industry practice in a process of continuous improvement. A structured, systematic literature search was carried out, incorporating peer-reviewed scientific literature in the period 2000–2019. An enormous volume of research is underway, testament to the fact that we have not solved the pain and analgesia challenge for any species, including our own. This review has highlighted a number of potential areas for further research.

Etoricoxib-induced fixed drug eruption: Report of seven cases

BACKGROUND

Fixed drug eruption (FDE) is a characteristic form of intraepidermal CD8⁺ T cell-mediated drug reaction, with repeated appearance of isolated or multiple skin lesions in the same location after receiving the offending drug. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are the most common cause. Selective inhibitors of inducible cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) provoke a lesser degree of allergic or idiosyncratic adverse reactions than conventional NSAID, but they can cause skin reactions of variable severity.

OBJECTIVE

Etoricoxib has been related to a variety of unusual skin reactions, including several reports of FDE.

METHODS

We perfomed epicutaneous test to diagnose patients with suspected etoricoxib fixe drug rash due to clinical features and reproducibility on at least two occasions.

RESULTS

We present seven new cases of etoricoxib-induced fixed drug eruption, with a diagnosis based on clinical presentation. This diagnosis was confirmed by an etoricoxib-positive lesional patch test in six cases and by a positive low-dose oral challenge in the other one. Two patients showed negative patch tests with celecoxib (10% in pet.) on the residual lesions, and oral tolerance was confirmed in one.

CONCLUSION

To our knowledge, this is the largest series on FDE induced by etoricoxib reported to date.

Minocycline-induced microbiome alterations predict cafeteria diet-induced spatial recognition memory impairments in rats

Diets rich in sugar and saturated fat are associated with cognitive impairments in both humans and rodents with several potential mechanisms proposed. To test the involvement of diet-induced pro-inflammatory signaling, we exposed rats to a high-fat, high-sugar cafeteria diet, and administered the anti-inflammatory antibiotic minocycline. In the first experiment minocycline was coadministered across the diet, then in a second, independent cohort it was introduced following 4 weeks of cafeteria diet. Cafeteria diet impaired novel place recognition memory throughout the study. Minocycline not only prevented impairment in spatial recognition memory but also reversed impairment established in rats following 4 weeks cafeteria diet. Further, minocycline normalized diet-induced increases in hippocampal pro-inflammatory gene expression. No effects of minocycline were seen on adiposity or dietary intake across the experiments. Cafeteria diet and minocycline treatment significantly altered microbiome composition. The relative abundance of Desulfovibrio_OTU31, uniquely enriched in vehicle-treated cafeteria-fed rats, negatively and significantly correlated with spatial recognition memory. We developed a statistical model that accurately predicts spatial recognition memory based on Desulfovibrio_OTU31 relative abundance and fat mass. Thus, our results show that minocycline prevents and reverses a dietary-induced diet impairment in spatial recognition memory, and that spatial recognition performance is best predicted by changes in body composition and Desulfovibrio_OTU31, rather than changes in pro-inflammatory gene expression.