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Yellow Card reports
The MHRA Yellow Card scheme collects reports of suspected side effects from healthcare professionals and patients. View the Drug Analysis Profile (iDAP) for real-world adverse reaction data.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Gelatin
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Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Gelatin
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5 branded products available
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and NHS BNF section grouping. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Clinical guidelines and formulary information
British National Formulary
Gelatin
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
NICE clinical guidance(2)
Microinvasive subconjunctival insertion of a trans-scleral gelatin stent for primary open-angle glaucoma (HTG470)
Severe sialorrhoea (drooling) in children and young people with chronic neurological disorders: oral glycopyrronium bromide (ES5)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
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Supply & product information
Official product databases and supply status monitoring
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. emc (electronic medicines compendium) is operated by Datapharm Ltd. Shortage information sourced from NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS), sps.nhs.uk.
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF codes from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
4 hr
Mechanism
It works as a hemostatic by providing a physical framework within which clotting may occur [L2115].
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
74.12%
The…
Half-life
4 hr
[L2115]
Clearance
24h
[L2115]
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
As a thermoreversible hydrocolloid with a small gap between its melting and gelling temperatures, gelatin provides unique advantages over carbohydrate-based gelling agents. Gelatin is mainly produced from porcine skin, and cattle hides and bones.[A32432]
Some alternative raw substances have recently garnered attention from both researchers and the industry not only because they overcome religious concerns shared by both Jews and Muslims but also because they may provide scientific advantages over gelatins from mammal origins.[L2121]
Fish skins from a number of fish species a type of substance that has been comprehensively studied as a source for gelatin production. Fish skins have a significant potential for the production of high-quality gelatin with different melting and gelling temperatures over a much larger range than mammalian gelatins but have a sufficiently high level of gel strength and viscosity.[A32432]
Interestingly, horse gelatin has been studied and it was found that in the horse, gelatin influences the homeostasis of the amino acids required for cartilage synthesis [A32434]. An increasing number of novel applications have been found for collagen and gelatin.[A32426]
Gelatin is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA to be a non-hazardous food or food ingredient.[L2110] The FDA withdrew its approval for the use of all intravenous drug products containing gelatin. Gelatin continues to be approved for other routes of administration.[L43942]
[L2113]
Gelatin is used in preparations of foods, cosmetics, and medicine .
[L2113]
Plasma volume expander in hypovolaemic shock .
[L2115]
Haemostatic .
[L2115]
Gelatin-based hydrogels are being used in drug delivery and tissue engineering because they are able to promote cell adhesion and proliferation.
In addition, these hydrogels can be used as wound dressings because of their attractive fluid absorbance properties. Manufacturing technologies such as ultraviolet stereolithography and two-photon polymerization can be used to prepare structures containing photosensitive gelatin-based hydrogels .
[L2111]
[L2124]
Gelatin solutions have shown to increase the risk of anaphylaxis and may be harmful by increasing mortality, renal failure, and bleeding likely due to extravascular uptake and impairment of coagulation. .
[A32430]
Gelatin can cause an unpleasant taste, a sensation of abdominal heaviness, bloating, heartburn, as well as belching .
[L2113]
Using gelatin as a plasma expander appears to have no significant advantages over crystalloids or isotonic albumin on mortality and may have a slightly higher risk of requiring allogeneic blood transfusion in perioperative and critically ill patients.
A meta-analysis found that using gelatin as a volume expander in vivo has no significant advantages over currently used volume expanders such as isotonic albumin or crystalloids and may slightly increase the risk of requiring a blood transfusion .
[L2119]
As a volume expander, gelatin remains in the vascular space. When used in the treatment of hypovolaemia gelatin can produce a significant increase in blood volume, cardiac output, stroke volume, blood pressure, urinary output and oxygen delivery, increasing volume and pressure [L2117].
For intravascular volume expansion, the majority or gelatins produce an effect which is almost equivalent to of which are mild, although severe reactions albumin, with a duration of action of 3 to 4 hours to have been reported [L2118].
Gelatin or collagen chains suspended in solution can be covalently cross-linked to form matrices that are able to swell in the presence of aqueous solutions, forming what are called gelatin hydrogels. Hydrogels, characterized by their hydrophilicity and insolubility in water, have the capability of swelling into an equilibrium volume while maintaining their shape. The chemical cross-linkers used may be either small bifunctional molecules or polyfunctional macromolecules, for example, glutaraldehyde [L2122].
In addition to their well-established value as a nutritional protein source, collagen and collagen-derived products may exhibit various potential biological activities on cells and the extracellular matrix through the corresponding food-derived peptides post-ingestion. This could justify their applications in dietary supplements and pharmaceutical agents [A32426].
Gelatin is a protein that is used as a hemostatic in surgical procedures. It is also used as a plasma volume expander in hypovolemic shock. Gelatin rods structures may also be used to temporarily block tear outflow in cases of dry eye [L2115].
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
The relative and absolute bioavailability of gelatin were 74.12% and 85.97%, respectively. The amino acid profile of plasma showed that 41.91% of the digested gelatin was absorbed from the intestine in the peptide form, and there was a linear correlation between the absorbed amount of an amino acid and its content in gelatin (R(2) = 0.9566). Furthermore, 17 types of collagen peptide were purified by multi-step chromatography and identified with ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation-mass spectrometry .
[A32437]
[L2115]
[L2115]
ATC B05AA06
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Gelatin
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications: