Development of a pharmacological evidence-based anticholinergic burden scale for medications commonly used in older adults

Aim: The present study aimed to develop a pharmacological evidence-based anticholinergic burden scale (ABS) through a direct assessment of muscarinic receptor-binding activities of 260 medications commonly used in older adults. Methods: The muscarinic receptor-binding activities of 260 drugs were assessed by the displacement of specific [N-methyl-H-3]scopolamine methyl chloride binding in the rat brain. The maximum blood concentrations (C-max) of drugs after their administration to subjects were cited from their interview forms. Results: In total, 96 of 260 drugs displayed concentration-dependent muscarinic receptor binding in rat brain. Based on muscarinic receptor-binding activity (IC50) and C-max after the administration at clinical doses in humans, we rated ABS 3 (strong) for 33 drugs and ABS 2 (moderate) for 37 drugs. There was an approximate similarity between muscarinic receptor-binding activities (IC50) and C-max of 33 drugs (ABS 3) after their administration at clinical doses in humans. Furthermore, 26 drugs were defined as ABS 1 (weak) by muscarinic receptor-binding activity. The remaining 164 drugs exhibited slight or no significant muscarinic receptor-binding activities at high concentration of 100 mu M, and they were defined as ABS 0. There was a marked similarity for 28 drugs (ABS 3) between the present ABS data and their previous scoring data in the literature. Conclusions: To our knowledge, the present study developed the first comprehensive pharmacological evidence-based ABS of drugs based on muscarinic receptor-binding activity, which provides guidance as to which drugs may be discontinued to reduce anticholinergic burden.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to develop a pharmacological evidence-based anticholinergic burden scale (ABS) by directly assessing the muscarinic receptor-binding activities of 260 commonly used medications in older adults. The muscarinic receptor-binding activities of these drugs were evaluated using specific binding assays in rat brains. Based on the results, 33 drugs were rated as ABS 3 (strong), 37 drugs as ABS 2 (moderate), 26 drugs as ABS 1 (weak), and 164 drugs as ABS 0 (none or slight binding activity). This study provides a comprehensive ABS based on muscarinic receptor-binding activity, which can guide physicians in discontinuing certain drugs to reduce anticholinergic burden.