Acetaminophen, a therapeutic or an extremely toxic remedy – a review

Abstract

When a new coronavirus appeared in the late 2019, identified as the cause of several cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, Paracetamol was initially reported to be the preferable antipyretic medication, choice which was detrimental to the use of other drugs. People have resorted to buying large stocks of Paracetamol and some have used it in large doses, regardless of the consequences. However, the Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) overdose remains the leading cause of death or transplantation due to acute liver failure in many parts of the world. This review aims at presenting the pharmacokinetics, the clinical signs, and the risk factors for systemic toxicity associated with Paracetamol overdose, as well as the current therapeutic approach. Paracetamol is primarily metabolized in the liver, by glucuronidation and sulfation. In case of a Paracetamol overdose, a large amount of NAPQI is conjugated with glutathione, and this process is due to a major depletion of glutathione, thus leading to hepatic necrosis, renal failure, and encephalopathy. The evaluation of serum acetaminophen levels by analytical methods is extremely useful both for the diagnosis and the therapy monitoring.

DNA Chimeras as Electrochemical Biosensors for Host‐Guest Measurements in Blood

“…We presume that the lower dissociation constants and higher relative responses we observed when fitting current decays instead of potential decays originates from the lower resolution with which we can monitor blue box's peak potential due to its broadness. The dissociation constant we measure for catechol, however, closely matches the one reported by Bernardo and coworkers [27] and ones measured for acetaminophen and aspirin are within the therapeutic range (66–198 μM for acetaminophen and 800–1600 μM for aspirin) [42–45] . We thus envision that our electrochemical DNA‐host chimera sensors could have the ability to afford quantitative measurements of several small electron‐rich aromatic molecules.…”

“…The dissociation constant we measure for catechol, however, closely matches the one reported by Bernardo and coworkers [27] and ones measured for acetaminophen and aspirin are within the therapeutic range (66-198 μM for acetaminophen and 800-1600 μM for aspirin). [42][43][44][45] We thus envision that our electrochemical DNA-host chimera sensors could have the ability to afford quantitative measurements of several small electron-rich aromatic molecules.…”

Assessment of Uptake, Accumulation and Degradation of Paracetamol in Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) under Controlled Laboratory Conditions

“…Paracetamol, also named acetaminophen, is one of the most widely consumed analgesic drugs among over-the-counter (OCT) and prescribed medicines [10]. The global paracetamol market is expected to be valued at 126.2 USD million in 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is forecast to adjust to 121.7 USD million by 2028 [11].…”

Preparation of Electrochemical Sensor for Paracetamol Detection Based on a New Piperazine Substituted Triazole-Coumarin Hybrid Doped PEDOT Modified Flexible HOPG Electrode

“…1,2 However, the amount of paracetamol administered is very important (maximum 500 mg every 4 h for adults), and liver and kidney damage can occur in overdose. 3 The detection of pharmaceuticals is very important in analytical chemistry, and the need for the development of analytical methods that can perform rapid and sensitive drug determination and quantification is increasing. 4 Most of these methods require the use of expensive analytical systems and sample preparation is lengthy.…”