SAFETY OF PARENTERAL HYDROXYPROPYL-BETA-CYCLODEXTRIN

Post-treatment data were collected on a patient who received intraveno us hydroxypropyl beta-cyclodextrin in a dose of 1.5 g/kg in 1985. Alth ough no untoward effects were observed in this patient, rarely occurri ng agitation and pulmonary edema have been noted after injections into rabbits and dogs, respectively. These complications are analyzed here on the basis of symptoms and on the effects of hydroxypropyl beta-cyc lodextrin on the biochemistry of a representative lipid, cholesterol, which were studied in rats. It is hypothesized that these untoward eff ects of parenteral hydroxypropyl beta-cyclodextrin are due to complex formation, with lipid mediators of pathological responses, of which pr ostaglandins are one example. These mediators normally have brief and localized functions; if hydroxypropyl beta-cyclodextrin happens to be injected when these mediator systems are activated, their influence an d the responses of the organism may be increased.