Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40892740›Full record

ArticlePloS one2025

Observational suspected adverse drug reaction profiles of fluoro-pharmaceuticals and potential mimicry of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the United Kingdom.

Banurja Balasubramaniam, Alan M Jones

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Banurja BalasubramaniamSchool of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, United Kingdom.
Alan M JonesSchool of Pharmacy, School of Health Sciences, College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3897-5626

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsThe aim of this research is to explore the suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) of perfluorinated medicines to determine whether side effects commonly associated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure were correlated to the type or number of fluorine atoms in these medications.

methodsThirteen fluorinated drugs and six non-fluorinated (or low fluorinated) comparators were selected after systematic triage. The reported ADR data from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency's (MHRA) Yellow Card, and prescribing data from the OpenPrescribing database and the National Health Service Business Service Authority (NHSBSA) over a 5-year period were curated. Prescribing data was used to standardise the ADRs by calculating ADRs/1,000,000 items dispensed for selected system organ classes (SOCs), associated with PFAS exposure, for all 19 drugs. The physiochemical and pharmacological properties of the selected drugs were determined from ChemDraw version 23.1.1, Drug Bank, electronic medicines compendium (EMC) and the chemical database of bioactive molecules with drug-like properties, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (ChEMBL).

resultsExcluding congenital, familial, and genetic disorders, and endocrine disorders, all other SOCs (n = 5) showed statistical significance (P < .05) for ADRs/1,000,000 items identified across the 13 fluorinated drugs. It was identified that leflunomide was suspected of more ADRs than other comparator medications, which had the highest suspected ADRs/1,000,000 items dispensed (n = 343) and lansoprazole had the lowest (n = 14). Both drugs contain same number of fluorine atoms (n = 3) and similar type of fluorine moiety (trifluoromethyl, -CF3).

conclusionNo correlation between the fluorination status of the drugs and the ADRs were found.

Indexed as

Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse ReactionsFluorocarbonsAdverse Drug Reaction Reporting SystemsDatabases, FactualHumansPharmaceutical PreparationsUnited KingdomFluorocarbonsPharmaceutical Preparations

Identifiers

PMID40892740
PMCPMC12404432

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.