Clinical effects of cannabis compared to synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists (SCRAs): a retrospective cohort study of presentations with acute toxicity to European hospitals between 2013 and 2020.

INTRODUCTION: Cannabis is the most common recreational drug worldwide and synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists are currently the largest group of new psychoactive substances. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical features and outcomes of lone acute cannabis toxicity with lone acute synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist toxicity in a large series of presentations to European emergency departments between 2013-2020. METHODS: Self-reported drug exposure, clinical, and outcome data were extracted from the European Drug Emergencies Network Plus which is a surveillance network that records data on drug-related emergency department presentations to 36 centres in 24 European countries. Cannabis exposure was considered the control in all analyses. To compare the lone cannabis and lone synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist groups, univariate analysis using chi squared testing was used for categorical variables and non-parametric Mann-Whitney U- testing for continuous variables. Statistical significance was defined as a P value of <0.05. RESULTS: Between 2013-2020 there were 54,314 drug related presentations of which 2,657 were lone cannabis exposures and 503 lone synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist exposures. Synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist presentations had statistically significantly higher rates of drowsiness, coma, agitation, seizures and bradycardia at the time of presentation. Cannabis presentations were significantly more likely to have palpitations, chest pain, hypertension, tachycardia, anxiety, vomiting and headache. DISCUSSION: Emergency department presentations involving lone synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist exposures were more likely to have neuropsychiatric features and be admitted to a psychiatric ward, and lone cannabis exposures were more likely to have cardiovascular features. Previous studies have shown variability in the acute toxicity of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists compared with cannabis but there is little comparative data available on lone exposures. There is limited direct comparison in the current literature between lone synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonist and lone cannabis exposure, with only two previous poison centre series and two clinical series. Whilst this study is limited by self-report being used to identify the drug(s) involved in the presentations, previous studies have demonstrated that self-report is reliable in emergency department presentations with acute drug toxicity. CONCLUSION: This study directly compares presentations with acute drug toxicity related to the lone use of cannabis or synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists. It supports previous findings of increased neuropsychiatric toxicity from synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists compared to cannabis and provides further data on cardiovascular toxicity in lone cannabis use.

Safety of Monoclonal Antibodies Inhibiting PCSK9 in Pregnancy: Disproportionality Analysis in VigiBase®.

Safety data on the use of monoclonal antibodies inhibiting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 in pregnancy are scarce. This study queried VigiBase®, the World Health Organization global pharmacovigilance database, to search for signals of disproportionate reporting for pregnancy outcomes with alirocumab and evolocumab. As of November 22, 2023, there were 45 safety reports of exposure to evolocumab (N = 31) and alirocumab (N = 14) in pregnancy. Most of them originated from Europe (N = 25, 55.6%) and were more frequently reported by healthcare professionals (N = 35, 77.8%). Median patient age was 37 years (25th-75th percentiles; 32-41 years). Drug exposure occurred during pregnancy in 36 (80.0%) safety reports, via paternal exposure during pregnancy in four (8.9%), during lactation in three (6.7%), and in two safety reports the time of drug exposure remained unknown. Twenty safety reports (57.8%) merely reported drug exposure, while 19 (42.2%) also reported pregnancy outcomes, however, without specific maternal toxicities or patterns of birth defects. Spontaneous abortion was reported in eight safety reports without representing a signal of disproportionate reporting compared with either the full database (reporting odds ratio, ROR, 0.06 95% confidence interval, CI 0.03-0.12) or statins (ROR 0.16, 95% CI 0.08-0.32). In conclusion, this study showed that, currently, there are no signals of increased reporting of spontaneous abortion with alirocumab and evolocumab compared with the full database and statins in VigiBase®. Notwithstanding, lack of disproportionality is not synonymous with safety and, as disproportionality analyses depend on the number of safety reports that progressively accumulate in VigiBase®, they should be repeated at regular intervals to confirm the results of the present study.

Calcitonin gene-related peptide antagonists in pregnancy: a disproportionality analysis in VigiBase®.

BACKGROUND: Current evidence on the safety of calcitonin gene-related peptide antagonists (CGRP-A) in pregnancy for the treatment of both episodic and chronic migraine is scarce and does not yet provide definitive information. By querying VigiBase®, the World Health Organization global pharmacovigilance database, this study aimed to detect differences in the reporting frequency between CGRP-A and triptans in relation to pregnancy. METHODS: Disproportionality analyses on de-duplicated safety reports collected in VigiBase® as of 31.05.2023 reporting exposure to CGRP-A in pregnancy with or without pregnancy outcomes. A Reporting Odds Ratio (ROR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was used as a measure of disproportionality and the threshold for the detection of a signal of disproportionate reporting was set with a 95% CI lower limit > 1. FINDINGS: Four hundred sixty-seven safety reports reported exposure to CGRP-A in pregnancy, mostly originating from the United States of America (360/467, 77%), more frequently reported by patients (225/467, 48%), who were mainly females (431/467, 92%), and more frequently reported exposure to CGRP-A during pregnancy (400/467, 86%). Compared to triptans, no signals of disproportionate reporting were detected with CGRP-A either for the overall reporting of pregnancy-related safety reports (ROR 0.91, 95% CI 0.78-1.06), for the reporting of pregnancy outcomes (maternal and/or foetal/neonatal, ROR 0.54, 95% CI 0.45-0.66), or for the reporting of foetal/neonatal outcomes (ROR 0.53, 95% CI 0.41-0.68). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that, to date, there are no signals of increased reporting with CGRP-A compared to triptans in relation to pregnancy in VigiBase®. Future pharmacovigilance studies are needed to confirm these findings.