Drug Interactions

Potentiation

TRPotansiyalizasyon
Also known as:Potentiating effect · Pharmacological enhancement

An interaction in which a drug that lacks the relevant effect on its own increases the effect of another drug, through either a pharmacokinetic or a pharmacodynamic mechanism.

In depth

Potentiation differs from synergism, in which both drugs produce the effect individually, and from additivity. It is often pharmacokinetic: clavulanic acid inhibits β-lactamases and protects amoxicillin, carbidopa blocks peripheral decarboxylation of levodopa, probenecid reduces renal tubular secretion of penicillins, and ritonavir inhibits CYP3A4 to boost other protease inhibitors. It can also be pharmacodynamic, when one drug sensitizes the target system to another.

The terminology is used inconsistently, and some texts treat potentiation and synergism as synonyms; precise usage states whether each drug is active alone.

Clinical pearl

Potentiation is the rationale for fixed combinations such as amoxicillin–clavulanic acid and levodopa–carbidopa; unintended potentiation, e.g. by an enzyme inhibitor, can cause toxicity without the dose of either drug being changed.

Example drugs

Clavulanic acid Carbidopa Probenecid Ritonavir
TRIn Turkish

Potansiyalizasyon

Kendi başına ilgili etkiyi göstermeyen bir ilacın, farmakokinetik veya farmakodinamik bir mekanizmayla başka bir ilacın etkisini artırdığı etkileşimdir.

Potansiyalizasyon, her iki ilacın da etkiyi tek başına oluşturduğu sinerjiden ve aditiviteden farklıdır. Çoğu zaman farmakokinetiktir: klavulanik asit beta-laktamazları inhibe ederek amoksisilini korur, karbidopa levodopanın periferik dekarboksilasyonunu engeller, probenesid penisilinlerin renal tübüler sekresyonunu azaltır ve ritonavir CYP3A4'ü inhibe ederek diğer proteaz inhibitörlerini güçlendirir. Bir ilacın hedef sistemi diğerine duyarlı hâle getirdiği durumlarda farmakodinamik de olabilir.

Terim literatürde tutarsız kullanılır ve bazı kaynaklar potansiyalizasyon ile sinerjiyi eş anlamlı kabul eder; kesin kullanımda her ilacın tek başına aktif olup olmadığı belirtilir.

Amoksisilin–klavulanik asit ve levodopa–karbidopa gibi sabit kombinasyonların gerekçesi potansiyalizasyondur; istenmeyen potansiyalizasyon (ör. bir enzim inhibitörüyle) hiçbir ilacın dozu değişmeden toksisiteye yol açabilir.

Diğer adları:Potansiyalize etme · Güçlendirme
Updated 24.09.2026 1 views Educational reference — verify against current sources before clinical use.

Read next

SynergismSinerji

An interaction in which two drugs that each produce a given effect on their own cause a combined effect greater than that predicted from their individual effects under additivity.

 Additive EffectAditif Etki

A combined effect of two drugs acting on the same endpoint that equals the effect predicted from their individual dose–response relationships, as if one drug were partly substituted for the other.

 Pharmacodynamic InteractionFarmakodinamik Etkileşim

An interaction in which one drug modifies the response to another at the same or related receptors, physiological systems or pathways, independently of any change in plasma concentrations.

 Pharmacokinetic InteractionFarmakokinetik Etkileşim

An interaction in which one drug alters the absorption, distribution, metabolism or excretion of another, so that the concentrations of the affected drug change rather than its concentration–effect relationship.

 Enzyme InhibitionEnzim İnhibisyonu

A reduction in the activity of a drug-metabolizing enzyme by a co-administered drug or other substance, which lowers the clearance of drugs dependent on that enzyme and raises their concentrations.