Pharmacovigilance

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Analysis of medicinal interactionss

According to the World Health Organization, pharmacovigilance is aimed at the monitoring of the safety of the use of medications, involving phenomena related to the profile of adverse reactions, for the application of the pharmaceutical agent in distinct populations. Currently, pharmacovigilance programs have extended their approach to possible occurrences of interactions between medications and nutrients or phytotherapeutic agents that are often responsible for the increase or reduction of the therapeutic effect. To understand the possible effects of the interactions between these substances and industrialized medications, Professor Rosane Maria Salvi coordinates the studies of the Research Group in Pharmacovigilance associated with the Institute of Toxicology and Pharmacology of PUCRS (INTOX).

After INTOX was formed in 2007, a project began that intends to revise the literature on the clinical results on the relationship between pharmaceutical and phytotherapeutic agents. This research resulted in a publication, Medicinal X Phytotherapeutic Interactions: In Search of a Rational Prescription. In the format of a manual and containing illustrations, the book shows some of the most common effects of the simultaneous use of pharmaceutical and phytotherapeutic agents.

In a 2010 review study, fruit juices were shown to interfere with medication bioavailabilities and half-lives. A significant number of interactions was observed between pharmaceutical agents and orange and grapefruit juices, in particular interactions capable of promoting variations in therapeutic responses.

Currently, a multidisciplinary project is under development that brings together researchers from INTOX, the Schools of Biosciences and School of Pharmacy, and the Nutrition program. A new guide related to distinct pharmacological classes will serve to support the decisions of health professionals. The objective is to make this accessible free of charge in 2013 in the form of an e-book.

Through INTOX, the group maintains a partnership with the Center for Toxicological Information of the Secretary of Health of Rio Grande do Sul, where consultations are performed on their database.