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Active ingredient: Ondansetron - Brands, Medical Use, Clinical Data

Brands, Medical Use, Clinical Data

Drug Category

  • Anti-anxiety Agents
  • Antipsychotics
  • Antipruritics
  • Antiemetics
  • Serotonin Antagonists

Dosage Forms

  • Tablet
  • Liquid

Brands / Synonyms

Zofran; Zofran ODT; Zophren; Zudan

Indications

For treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting

Pharmacology

Ondansetron is an antinauseant and antiemetic agent indicated for the prevention of nausea and vomiting associated with moderately-emetogenic cancer chemotherapy and for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting. Ondansetron is a highly specific and selective serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, not shown to have activity at other known serotonin receptors and with low affinity for dopamine receptors.

Mechanism of Action

Ondansetron is a selective serotonin 5-HT3 receptor antagonist. The serotonin 5-HT3 receptors are located on the nerve terminals of the vagus in the periphery and centrally in the chemoreceptor trigger zone of the area postrema. It is thought that chemotherapeutic agents produce nausea and vomiting by releasing serotonin from the enterochromaffin cells of the small intestine, and that the released serotonin then activates 5-HT3 receptors located on vagal efferents to initiate the vomiting reflex. Therefore Ondansetron works by blocking the reception of serotonin at these 5-HT3 receptors.

Absorption

Ondansetron is well absorbed after oral administration and undergoes limited first-pass metabolism.

Toxicity

Low blood pressure and fainting, sudden blindness, severe constipation

Biotrnasformation / Drug Metabolism

Hepatic

Contraindications

Ondansetron injection and Ondansetron injection premixed are contraindicated for patients known to have hypersensitivity to the drug.

Drug Interactions

Ondansetron does not itself appear to induce or inhibit the cytochrome P-450 drug-metabolizing enzyme system of the liver. Because ondansetron is metabolized by hepatic cytochrome P-450 drug-metabolizing enzymes (CYP3A4, CYP2D6, CYP1A2), inducers or inhibitors of these enzymes may change the clearance and, hence, the half-life of ondansetron. On the basis of limited available data, no dosage adjustment is recommended for patients on these drugs.

Phenytoin, Carbamazepine, and Rifampicin: In patients treated with potent inducers of CYP3A4 (i.e., phenytoin, carbamazepine, and rifampicin), the clearance of ondansetron was significantly increased and ondansetron blood concentrations were decreased. However, on the basis of available data, no dosage adjustment for ondansetron is recommended for patients on these drugs.1,3

Tramadol: Although no pharmacokinetic drug interaction between ondansetron and tramadol has been observed, data from 2 small studies indicate that ondansetron may be associated with an increase in patient controlled administration of tramadol.4,5

Chemotherapy: Tumor response to chemotherapy in the P 388 mouse leukemia model is not affected by ondansetron. In humans, carmustine, etoposide, and cisplatin do not affect the pharmacokinetics of ondansetron.

In a crossover study in 76 pediatric patients, I.V. ondansetron did not increase blood levels of high-dose methotrexate.

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