While ketoconazole blocks the synthesis of the sterol ergosterol in fungi, in humans, at high dosages (>800 mg/day), it potently inhibits the activity of several enzymes necessary for the conversion of cholesterol to steroid hormones such as testosterone and cortisol. Specifically, ketoconazole has been shown to inhibit cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme, which converts cholesterol to pregnenolone, 17α-hydroxylase and 17,20-lyase, which convert pregnenolone into androgens, and 11β-hydoxylase, which converts 11-deoxycortisol to cortisol. All of these enzymes are mitochondrial cytochrome p450 enzymes. Based on these antiandrogen and antiglucocorticoid effects, ketoconazole has been used with some success as a second-line treatment for certain forms of advanced prostate cancer and for the suppression of glucocorticoid synthesis in the treatment of Cushings syndrome. However, in the treatment of prostate cancer, concomitant glucocorticoid administration is needed to prevent adrenal insufficiency. Ketoconazole has additionally been used, in lower dosages, to treat hirsutism and, in combination with a GnRH analogue, male-limited precocious puberty. In any case, the risk of hepatotoxicity with ketoconazole limits its use in all of these indications, especially in those that are benign such as hirsutism.Ketoconazole has been used to prevent the testosterone flare at the initiation of GnRH agonist therapy in men with prostate cancer. Contraindications
Oral ketoconazole has various contraindications, such as concomitant use with certain other drugs due to known drug interactions. Other contraindications of oral ketoconazole include liver disease, adrenal insufficiency, and known hypersensitivity to oral ketoconazole. Side effects
Gastrointestinal
Vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, constipation, abdominal pain, upper abdominal pain, dry mouth, dysgeusia, dyspepsia, flatulence, tongue discoloration may occur.
Patients must have viable retinal cells as a prerequisite for the intraocular administration of Luxturna.Retina surgeon Dr. Albert Maguire and gene therapy expert Dr. Jean Bennett developed the technique used by the Childrens Hospital.Dr. Sue Semple-Rowland at the University of Florida has recently restored sight in an avian model using gene therapy.In March 2020, doctors at the Casey Eye Institute of the Oregon Health & Science University injected a CRISPR-modified virus into a patients eye in an attempt to treat LCA10. Popular culture
In the episode "The Blackout in the Blizzard" (season 6, episode 16) of the television drama Bones, Dr. Jack Hodgins and his pregnant wife Angela Montenegro, who is an LCA carrier, have to wait during a citywide blackout for Hodginss genetic test results, to see if he is also an LCA carrier. He does indeed turn out to be a carrier, giving their unborn child a 25% chance of having LCA. In the television series ER (season 14, episode 12 "Believe the Unseen") Dr. Abby Lockhart diagnoses a young foster girl with Leber congenital amaurosis. The girl to this point hid her condition from her foster families. The episode contains some information about symptoms, clinical diagnosis and mentions gene replacement therapy and clinical trials as hope for help in managing the condition. In the Korean drama The King of Dramas (episode 16, "In Search of Lost Time") Anthony Kim, played by Kim Myung-min, is diagnosed with Leber congenital amaurosis, the same disease that made his mother blind.