Effects of Hydrocortisone on the Pharmacokinetics of Loratadine after Oral and Intravenous Loratadine Administration to Rats

The present study investigated the effects of hydrocortisone on the pharmacokinetics of loratadine in rats after intravenous and oral administration. A single dose of loratadine was administered either orally (4 mg/kg) or intravenously (1 mg/kg) with or without oral hydrocortisone (0.3 or 1.0 mg/kg). Compared to the control group (without hydrocortisone), after oral administration of loratadine, the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) was significantly increased by 30.2-81.7% in the presence of hydrocortisone (p<0.05). The peak plasma concentration ($C_{max}$) was significantly increased by 68.4% in the presence of 1.0 mg/kg hydrocortisone after oral administration of loratadine (p<0.05). Hydrocortisone (1.0 mg/kg) significantly increased the terminal plasma half-life ($t_{1/2}$) of loratadine by 20.8% (p<0.05). Consequently, the relative bioavailability of loratadine was increased by 1.30- to 1.82-fold. In contrast, oral hydrocortisone had no effects on any pharmacokinetic parameters of loratadine given intravenously. This suggests that hydrocortisone may improve the oral bioavailability of loratadine by reducing first-pass metabolism of loratadine, most likely mediated by P-gp and/or CYP3A4 in the intestine and/or liver. In conclusion, hydrocortisone significantly enhanced the bioavailability of orally administered loratadine in rats, which may have been due to inhibition of both CYP 3A4-mediated metabolism and P-gp in the intestine and/or liver by the presence of hydrocortisone.