Pinpointing cause of side effects
Pinpointing cause of side effects
Researchers led by the National Jewish Medical and Research Center presented the results of a multicenter study identifying the cause of some unwanted side effects associated with the most commonly prescribed drug for asthma, racemic albuterol.
The study compared racemic albuterol with the single isomer version of the drug, levalbuterol. Researchers concluded that levalbuterol produced greater bronchodilation without an increase in side effects, and did not negatively impact lung function. Racemic albuterol is a one-to-one mix of two mirror-image isomers, (R)-albuterol (levalbuterol) and (S)-albuterol. Only levalbuterol is responsible for the bronchodilator effects of the drug.
"These data add to recent evidence that suggests (S)-albuterol is not inert, as originally believed, and may be responsible for undesirable effects of the racemic drug," says lead investigator Harold Nelson, MD, senior staff physician, department of medicine, National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver.
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