Reactions 611 - 27 Jul 1996

■ Caffeine breath test fails to predict tacrinehepatotoxicity. US investigators conclude that thecaffeine breath test, a measure of cytochrome P4501A2 (CYP1A2)* activity, will not be clinically useful foridentifying patients who are susceptible to tacrinehepatotoxicity prior to therapy. However, their studyof 37 patients did find a correlation between caffeinebreath test results and steady-state tacrine bloodlevels, suggesting that the test may prove useful forindividualising tacrine dosing in the future.* Cytochrome P450 1A2 is thought to be involved in the generationof reactive tacrine metabolites that could mediate liver damage, aswell as being the major liver enzyme involved in tacrinemetabolism.

Fontana RJ, et al. The caffeine breath test does not identify patients susceptibleto tacrine hepatotoxicity. Hepatology 23: 1429-1435, Jun 1996 800451142

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Reactions 27 Jul 1996 No. 6110114-9954/10/0611-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved