French summaries of product characteristics: content in relation to therapeutic monitoring of psychotropic drugs.

The prescription information (summary of product characteristics, SPC) is compiled by the pharmaceutical industry as required by the national regulatory authorities. They vary in their content about the properties of drugs and about the usefulness of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in the blood of patients. Based on a previous study carried out in Germany, the degree of agreement of French SPC for 59 psychotropic drugs with the existing medico-scientific evidence in the area of TDM was examined using a recently developed instrument. A summary score of SPC content (SPCC) related to TDM (SPCC(TDM)) has been calculated and compared with the level of recommendation of TDM of the AGNP-TDM expert group consensus guidelines for TDM in psychiatry [AGNP: Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Neuropsychopharmakologie und Pharmakopsychiatrie (Association for neuropsychopharmacology and pharmacopsychiatry)]. Among the antidepressants, antipsychotics, tranquillizers/hypnotic agents and mood stabilizers, the highest SPCC(TDM) scores in the French SPC were reached for imipramine (16), haloperidol (6), clonazepam (8) and lithium (23), respectively. Results were similar to those obtained from the analysis of German SPC, and considerable disagreement was found between the information on TDM in SPC and existing medico-scientific evidence, albeit less in the case of mood stabilizers. Taking into account the recommendations of the AGNP-TDM expert group guidelines, there is a deficit in the French SPC concerning TDM-relevant information. An amelioration of this situation could help to improve the clinical practice of TDM of psychotropic drugs, as the SPC is a widely used tool.

Flight energetics in relation to sexual differences in the mating behaviour of a mayfly, Siphlonurus aestivalis

Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) are known to have short adult life-spans. Adults are unable to feed, and they utilize reserves stored during their aquatic larval stage. Energy reserves (fat, glycogen, and free sugars) of mature larvae, subimagoes and imagoes of both sexes of Siphlonurus aestivalis Eaton were compared. All the stages of both sexes had low glycogen and free sugar contents, and the only significant change occurred during the transformation of the mature larva to subimago when almost all the reserves of free sugars were used up. Glycogen and free sugars may serve as energy sources permitting individuals to swim and fly out of the water during emergence. Fat made up most of the energy reserves of mature larvae and was the main source of energy used during the final development of both sexes. Young adult males had high fat reserves which they used as a source of energy for their swarming flights. In contrast, females did not seem to use a significant amount of fat for flight. This difference is probably related to the different mating strategies of the sexes in this species. Males perform long flights waiting for females, whereas females perform only brief flights to mate and reproduce.