Are we using the right dose? - A tale of mole and gram

摘要

In reading original publications, we frequently find imprecise descriptions of dosage.This flaw is usually not due to the author's uncertainty about the dosage they have used, but to an ambiguous definition of the chemical.This error is then perpetuated and magnified through to reviews, meta-analyses and commentary (in even the most prestigious journals and by internationally acknowledged experts) .For example, 'pralidoxime', an antidote against certain organophosphorus compounds, is a poor description of the drug proper. As a quaternary ammonium compound the cation requires an anion. It is available as pralidoxime chloride (172.6 Da), pralidoxime mesilate (or methane-sulfonate, 232.3 Da), pralidoxime metilsulfate (248.6 Da), and pralidoxime iodide (264.1 Da). The term 'pralidoxime sulfate'is also found in literature , a compound that does not exist. Is it referring to one of the compounds above, or to pralidoxime hydrogen sulfate or bis(pralidoxime) sulfate? At any rate, it should be obvious that a precise instruction (prescription) requires the correct name of the chemical compound. It is perhaps less obvious that the same precision is required in the dose.