Pain medicine : the official journal of the American Academy of Pain Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Efficacy of gabapentin enacarbil vs placebo in patients with postherpetic neuralgia and a pharmacokinetic comparison with oral gabapentin.
The efficacy of gabapentin in some patients with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) may be limited by suboptimal drug exposure from unpredictable and saturable absorption. Gabapentin enacarbil (GEn) was designed for absorption by high-capacity transporters expressed throughout the intestine and undergoes rapid postabsorption hydrolysis to gabapentin. GEn extended-release tablets provide sustained, dose-proportional gabapentin exposure. This study assessed the efficacy of GEn vs placebo and compared the pharmacokinetics of gabapentin after oral dosing of GEn or gabapentin in patients with PHN. ⋯ GEn was effective in providing PHN pain relief, improved gabapentin exposure compared with gabapentin capsules, and was generally safe and well tolerated in patients with PHN.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Individual differences in morphine and butorphanol analgesia: a laboratory pain study.
Responses to opioid analgesics are highly variable, and the understanding of contributing factors is limited. This laboratory study was designed to examine the contributions of sex and race to inter-individual variability in response to opioids. ⋯ Findings are among the first to demonstrate race differences in a laboratory study of opioid analgesia.