Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bioequivalence of two glimepiride tablets, $Amaryl^{\circledR}$ (Handok/Aventis Pharm. Co., Ltd.) and Glimed (Kuhn II Pharm. Co., Ltd.), according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). The glimepiride release from the two glimepiride formulations in vitro was tested using KP VIII Apparatus II method with a variety of dissolution media (pH 1.2, 4.0, 6.8 buffer solution, water and blend of PSB 80 into each dissolution medium). Twenty six healthy male subjects, $22.65{\pm}2.19$ years in age and $66.55{\pm}8.85$ kg in body weight, were divided into two groups and a randomized $2\;{\times}\;2$ cross-over study was employed. After one tablet containing 2 mg as glimepiride was orally administered, blood was taken at predetermined time intervals and the concentrations of glimepiride in serum were determined using HPLC method with UV detector. The dissolution profiles of two formulations were similar at all dissolution media. Besides, the pharmacokinetic parameters such as $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$ were calculated and ANOVA test was utilized for the statistical analysis of the parameters using logarithmically transformed $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and untransformed $T_{max}$. The results showed that the differences between two formulations based on the Amaryl were -3.70, -8.28 and 0.61% for $AUC_t$, $C_{max}$ and $T_{max}$, respectively. There were no sequence effects between two formulations in these parameters. The 90% confidence intervals using logarithmically transformed data were within the acceptance range of log(0.8) to log(1.25) (e.g., $log(0.84){\sim}log(1.04)$ for $log(0.82){\sim}log(1.03)$ for $AUC_t$ and $C_{max}$, respectively). Thus, the criteria of the KFDA guideline for the bioequivalence were satisfied, indicating Glimed tablet and Amaryl tablet were bioequivalent.
