Drug Interaction Between Verapamil and Pioglitazone Long-term Administered to Rats

흰쥐에서 베라파밀과 장기투여된 피오그리타존과의 약물상호작용

This study investigated the effect of long-term administration of pioglitazone on the pharmacokinetics of verapamil in rats. Pharmacokinetic parameters of verapamil were determined after oral administration of verapamil (9 mg/kg) in rats coadministered pioglitazone (0.5 mg/kg) or pretreated with pioglitazone (0.5 mg/kg) for 3 and 9 days. Compared to oral control group, the presence of pioglitazone significantly (p<0.05) increased the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) of verapamil by 48.6% (coad), 61.1% (3 days) and 56.5% (9 days), and the peak concentration($C_{max}$) by 65.1% (coad), 76.8% (3 days) and 66.4% (9 days). The absolute bioavailability (AB%) of verapamil was significantly (p<0.05) higher by 6.2% (coad), 6.7% (3 days), 6.5% (9 days) compared to control (4.2%), and presence of pioglitazone was no significant change in the terminal half-life ($t_{1/2}$) and the time to reach the peak concentration($T_{max}$) of verapamil. Our results indicate that pioglitazone significantly enhanced oral bioavailability of verapamil in rats, implying that presence of pioglitazone could be effective to inhibit the CYP3A4-mediated metabolism of verapamil in the intestine. Drug interactions should be considered in the clinical setting when verapamil is coadministrated with pioglitazone.