PICME
Carbamazepine is a drug that is used in the treatment of epilepsy, trigeminal neuralgia and psychiatric disorders. However, up to 10% of patients develop hypersensitivity reactions. Some of these reactions are life-threatening and associated with long-term consequences such as scarring and blindness. The reasons these reactions occur is not well understood. It has been hypothesised that Carbamazepine or its breakdown products can bind with proteins and stimulate the immune system causing these reactions.
The PICME trial will recruit healthy male volunteers who will then be given a single dose of carbamazepine. Following administration of carbamazepine blood and urine samples will be collected over the next 72 hours to measure the levels of carbamazepine and its breakdown products. Genetic analyses will also be undertaken in the volunteers to determine if genetic variation influences the metabolism of carbamazepine.
Key Contacts
Dr Vincent Yip Email: vyip@liv.ac.uk