Bioequivalence of Cholicerin Soft Capsule to Gliatilin Soft Capsule (Choline Alphoscerate 400 mg)

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the bioequivalence of two choline alphoscerate soft capsules, Gliatilin soft capsule (Daewoong Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.) and Cholicerin soft capsule (Sam Chun Dang Pharm. Co., Ltd.), according to the guidelines of Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA). Serum concentrations of choline after oral administration of choline alphoscerate were determined using a validated LC/MS/MS method. This method showed linear response over the concentration range of 0.5-20 ${\mu}g$/mL with correlation coefficient of 0.9999. The lower limit of quantitation using 100 ${\mu}L$ of serum was 0.5 ${\mu}g$/mL which was sensitive enough for pharmacokinetic studies. Thirty six healthy male Korean volunteers received each medicine at the choline alphoscerate dose of 1200 mg in a $2{\times}2$ crossover study. There was a one-week washout period between the doses. Blood samples were taken at predetermined time intervals up to 8 hr. $AUC_t$ (the area under the serum concentration-time curve from time 0 to 8 hr) was calculated by the linear trapezoidal rule method. $C_{max}$ (the maximum serum drug concentration) and $T_{max}$ (the time to reach $C_{max}$) were compiled from the serum concentration-time data. Analysis of variance was carried out using logarithmically transformed $AUC_t$ and $C_{max}$. No significant sequence effect was found for all of the bioavailability parameters, indicating that the crossover design was properly performed. The 90% confidence intervals of the $AUC_t$ ratio and the $C_{max}$ ratio for Cholicerin/Gliatilin were log0.9998-log1.1172 and log0.9938-1.0944, respectively. These values were within the acceptable bioequivalence intervals of log0.80-log1.25. Thus, the criteria of the KFDA guidelines for the bioequivalence was satisfied, indicating Cholicerin soft capsule and Gliatilin soft capsule are bioequivalent.