Iopamidol is a nonionic, low-osmolar iodinated contrast agent. Iopamidol is indicated for angiography, pediatric angiocardiography, selective visceral arteriography and aortography, peripheral venography, and adult and pediatric intravenous excretory urography and intravenous adult and pediatric contrast enhancement of computed tomographic. Renal toxicity has been reported in a few patients with liver dysfunction who were given oral cholecystographic agents followed by intravascular contrast agents. Intravascular injection of contrast media is frequently associated with the sensation of warmth and pain especially in peripheral arteriography and venography. In angiocardiography the adverse reactions are: hot flashes, angina pectoris, flushing, bradycardia, hypotension, hives.

Pimozide (Orap) is a diphenylbutylpiperidine that is effective as an antipsychotic agent and as an alternative to haloperidol for the suppression of vocal and motor tics in patients with Tourette syndrome. It is not intended as a treatment of first choice nor is it intended for the treatment of tics that are merely annoying or cosmetically troublesome. It should be reserved for use in Tourette’s Disorder patients whose development and/or daily life function is severely compromised by the presence of motor and phonic tics. Evidence supporting approval of pimozide for use in Tourette’s Disorder was obtained in two controlled clinical investigations, which enrolled patients between the ages of 8 and 53 years. Most subjects in the two trials were 12 or older. Pimozide is an orally active antipsychotic drug product, which shares with other antipsychotics the ability to blockade dopaminergic receptors on neurons in the central nervous system. Although its exact mode of action has not been established, the ability of pimozide to suppress motor and phonic tics in Tourette’s Disorder is thought to be a function of its dopaminergic blocking activity. However, receptor blockade is often accompanied by a series of secondary alterations in central dopamine metabolism and function which may contribute to both pimozide’s therapeutic and untoward effects. In addition, pimozide, in common with other antipsychotic drugs, has various effects on other central nervous system receptor systems which are not fully characterized.

Glyburide, a second-generation sulfonylurea antidiabetic agent, lowers blood glucose acutely by stimulating the release of insulin from the pancreas, an effect dependent upon functioning beta cells in the pancreatic islets. With chronic administration in Type II diabetic patients, the blood glucose lowering effect persists despite a gradual decline in the insulin secretory response to the drug. Extrapancreatic effects may be involved in the mechanism of action of oral sulfonyl-urea hypoglycemic drugs. The combination of glibenclamide and metformin may have a synergistic effect, since both agents act to improve glucose tolerance by different but complementary mechanisms. In addition to its blood glucose lowering actions, glyburide produces a mild diuresis by enhancement of renal free water clearance. Glyburide is twice as potent as the related second-generation agent glipizide. Sulfonylureas such as glyburide bind to ATP-sensitive potassium channels on the pancreatic cell surface, reducing potassium conductance and causing depolarization of the membrane. Depolarization stimulates calcium ion influx through voltage-sensitive calcium channels, raising intracellular concentrations of calcium ions, which induces the secretion, or exocytosis, of insulin. Glyburide is indicated as an adjunct to diet to lower the blood glucose in patients with NIDDM whose hyperglycemia cannot be satisfactorily controlled by diet alone. Glyburide is available as a generic, is manufactured by many pharmaceutical companies and is sold in doses of 1.25, 2.5 and 5 mg under many brand names including Gliben-J, Daonil, Diabeta, Euglucon, Gilemal, Glidanil, Glybovin, Glynase, Maninil, Micronase and Semi-Daonil. It is also available in a fixed-dose combination drug with metformin that is sold under various trade names, e.g. Bagomet Plus, Benimet, Glibomet, Gluconorm, Glucored, Glucovance, Metglib and many others.

Ceftriaxone is a broad-spectrum cephalosporin antibiotic with a very long half-life. Ceftriaxone is a bactericidal agent that acts by inhibition of bacterial cell wall synthesis. Ceftriaxone has activity in the presence of some beta-lactamases, both penicillinases and cephalosporinases, of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. It is approved for the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections, acute bacterial otitis media, skin infections, urinary tract infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, bacterial septicemia, bone and joint infections, intraabdominal infection, meningitis, and surgical prophylaxis. Common adverse reactions include erythema multiforme, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, pseudomembranous enterocolitis, hemolytic anemia, hypersensitivity reaction, kernicterus, renal failure, and lung injury. Vancomycin, amsacrine, aminoglycosides, and fluconazole are incompatible with Ceftriaxone in admixtures. Precipitation of Ceftriaxone-calcium can occur when Ceftriaxone for Injection is mixed with calcium-containing solutions in the same intravenous administration line.

Amdinocillin is a novel, semisynthetic penicillin effective against many gram-negative bacteria. The antibacterial activity of amdinocillin is derived from its ability to bind specifically and avidly to Penicillin Binding Protein-2 (PBP 2). Amdinocillin is active alone against many gram-negative organisms. Pseudomonas and non-fermenting gram-negative bacteria, however, are usually resistant. Amdinocillin, in combination with many beta-lactams, exhibits marked synergy against many enterobacteriaceae. No such synergy can be demonstrated for gram-positive organisms or pseudomonas species. Amdinocillin is not beta-lactamase stable. Organisms which produce high levels of plasma-mediated beta-lactamase are resistant to the drug. Used in the treatment of urinary tract infections caused by some strains of E. coli and klebsiella and enterobacter species. Used mainly against Gram negative organisms. Amdinocillin is not available in the United States.

Clavulanic acid is produced by the fermentation of Streptomyces clavuligerus. It is a β-lactam structurally related to the penicillins and possesses the ability to inactivate a wide variety of β-lactamases by blocking the active sites of these enzymes. Clavulanic acid is particularly active against the clinically important plasmid-mediated β-lactamases frequently responsible for transferred drug resistance to penicillins and cephalosporins. Clavulanic acid is used in conjunction with amoxicillin for the treatment of bronchitis and urinary tract, skin, and soft tissue infections caused by beta-lactamase producing organisms. Clavulanic acid competitively and irreversibly inhibits a wide variety of beta-lactamases, commonly found in microorganisms resistant to penicillins and cephalosporins. Binding and irreversibly inhibiting the beta-lactamase results in a restauration of the antimicrobial activity of beta-lactam antibiotics against lactamase-secreting-resistant bacteria. By inactivating beta-lactamase (the bacterial resistance protein), the accompanying penicillin/cephalosporin drugs may be made more potent as well.

Acetohydroxamic acid (also known as AHA or by the trade name Lithostat) is a synthetic drug derived from hydroxylamine and ethyl acetate, is similar in structure to urea. In the urine, it acts as an antagonist of the bacterial enzyme urease. Acetohydroxamic acid is used to lower the level of ammonia in the urine, which may help with some types of urinary infections. Acetohydroxamic Acid has no direct antimicrobial action and does not acidify urine directly. It is used, in addition to antibiotics or medical procedures, to treat chronic urea-splitting urinary infections. In 1983 the US Food and Drug Administration approved acetohydroxamic acid (AHA) as an orphan drug for "prevention of so-called struvite stones" under the newly enacted Orphan Drug Act of 1983.

Cyclosporins are cyclic polypeptide macrolides that were originally derived from the soil fungus Tolypocladium inflatum. Cyclosporine (also known as cyclosporine A) was discovered by Sandoz and developed for the tretment of immune disorders. The drug was approved by FDA for such diseases as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Psoriasis (Neoral), Keratoconjunctivitis sicca (Restasis) and prevention of transplant rejections (Neoral and Sandimmune). Cyclosporine’s primary immunosuppressive mechanism of action is inhibition of T-lymphocyte function. Upon administration cyclosporine binds to cyclophilin A and thus inhibits calcineurin, leading to immune system suppression.

Ranitidine, a histamine H2-receptor antagonist, is now well established as a potent inhibitor of gastric acid secretion effective in the treatment and prophylaxis of gastrointestinal lesions aggravated by gastric acid secretion.

Etoposide (trade name Etopophos) is a semisynthetic derivative of podophyllotoxin that exhibits antitumor activity. It has been in clinical use for more than two decades and remains one of the most highly prescribed anticancer drugs in the world. The primary cytotoxic target for etoposide is topoisomerase II. This ubiquitous enzyme regulates DNA under- and over winding, and removes knots and tangles from the genome by generating transient double-stranded breaks in the double helix. Etoposide kills cells by stabilizing a covalent enzyme-cleaved DNA complex (known as the cleavage complex) that is a transient intermediate in the catalytic cycle of topoisomerase II. The accumulation of cleavage complexes in treated cells leads to the generation of permanent DNA strand breaks, which trigger recombination/repair pathways, mutagenesis, and chromosomal translocations. If these breaks overwhelm the cell, they can initiate death pathways. Thus, etoposide converts topoisomerase II from an essential enzyme to a potent cellular toxin that fragments the genome. Although the topoisomerase II-DNA cleavage complex is an important target for cancer chemotherapy, there also is evidence that topoisomerase II-mediated DNA strand breaks induced by etoposide and other agents can trigger chromosomal translocations that lead to specific types of leukemia. Etopophos (etoposide phosphate) is indicated in the management of the following neoplasms: Refractory Testicular Tumors-and for Small Cell Lung Cancer. The in vitro cytotoxicity observed for etoposide phosphate is significantly less than that seen with etoposide, which is believed due to the necessity for conversion in vivo to the active moiety, etoposide, by dephosphorylation. The mechanism of action is believed to be the same as that of etoposide.