Chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, CINV, has been a significant problem with oncology patients over past years. As a result much research was done and has lead to the creation of Zofran (Bernstein and Ong 2002). Ondansetron, marketed as Zofran was the first of its kind; it is a serotonin 5-HT3 receptor blocker, otherwise know as an antiemetic agent. Ondansetron is a tremendous breakthrough and is much more effective than older antiemetics, in some cases by almost 50% (Ramsook 2002). Ondansetron was FDA approved in January 1991 as a treatment for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting with parenteraly administered dosage. It was later approved in oral dosage forms as a treatment for post-operative nausea and vomiting in April 1995. In 1999 ondansetron was approved for use as an "orally disintegrating tablet," Zofran ODT®. This form of ondansetron does not require water to assist in swallowing (Clinical Pharmacology 2002). Now ondansetron is used primarily as a treatment for chemotherapy-induce and post-operative nausea and vomiting; however, it is also being recently used to treat drug dependencies such as alcoholism and to treat gastrointestinal disorders such as acute gastroenteritis.
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In this benchmarking project the ondansetron group included 572 patients that were 36. After an 11 week period the patients on oral ondansetron had reduced from more than three drinks a day to about 1. 7% of the total patients were inpatients with an average period of 9. On a drinking day the ondansetron group averaged about 4 drinks while the placebo group averaged about 6 drinks per day.
Ondansetron is used primarily to treat chemotherapy patients in order to improve their quality of life assisting in an overall better outcome of their treatment (Ondansetron 2002). A study consisted of 321 patients, 70% of whom were male, aged ranging from 25 to 65 years. Emesis from this disease is a large problem and extremely dehabilitating. This study shows not only that Zofran is effective in more than one area, but also give some insight into more of how it works. There are no drugs that are known to interact with ondansetron; however, excessive alcohol consumption should be avoided because this may intensify any occurring side effects (Physician's Desk Reference 1993). 5-HT3 receptors are found centrally in the chemoreceptor trigger zone and peripherally in the lining of the small intestines.
Serotonin, 5-HTor 5-hydroxytryptamine is and endogenously produced indolealkyl amine. Some other disorders that are related to the serotonin 5-HT3 are acute gastroenteritis (Ramsook 2002) and alcoholism (Johnson 2000).
The fact that alcoholism is also related to serotonin levels shows that ondansetron does in fact neutralize the serotonin receptors to help control many things, including vomiting.
Approximate Word count =
1459
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6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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