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Podcast: Real Life Pharmacology - Pharmacology Education for Health Care Professionals
Episode: Itraconazole Pharmacology
Description: In this episode, we break down itraconazole—a potent antifungal with a lot of baggage. If you’re a pharmacist, clinician, or student who needs to understand how this drug works and why it can be tricky to use, this episode is for you.
We start with the basics. Itraconazole blocks 14α-demethylase, an enzyme fungi need to make their cell membranes. That disruption kills or slows the fungus. It works against tough bugs like Aspergillus, Histoplasma, and Blastomyces, plus common skin infections.
Side effects? Nausea, liver enzyme elevations, and more seriously, heart failure. Yes, itraconazole has a...