Safety and efficacy of luspatercept for the treatment of anemia in patients with myelofibrosis.

ABSTRACT: The ACE-536-MF-001 trial enrolled patients with myelofibrosis (n = 95) into 4 cohorts: patients in cohorts 1 and 3A were non-transfusion dependent (NTD) and had anemia; patients in cohorts 2 and 3B were transfusion dependent (TD); and patients in cohort 3A/3B had stable ruxolitinib treatment before and during the study. All patients received luspatercept (1.0-1.75 mg/kg, 21-day cycles). Treatment was extended if clinical benefit was observed at day 169. The primary end point was anemia response rate (NTD, ≥1.5 g/dL hemoglobin increase from baseline; TD, transfusion-independence) over any 12-week period during the primary treatment period (weeks 1-24). Overall, 14% of patients in cohorts 1 and 3A, 10% in cohort 2, and 26% in cohort 3B met the primary end point. In cohorts 1 and 3A (NTD), 27% and 50% of patients, respectively, had mean hemoglobin increase of ≥1.5 g/dL from baseline. Among TD patients, ∼50% had ≥50% reduction in transfusion burden. Reduction in total symptom score was observed in all cohorts, with the greatest response rate seen in cohort 3A. Overall, 94% of patients had ≥1 adverse event (AE); 47% had ≥1 treatment-related AE (TRAE; 11% grade ≥3), most frequently hypertension (18%), managed with medical intervention. One patient had a serious TRAE leading to luspatercept discontinuation. Nine patients died on treatment (unrelated to study drug). In most patients, ruxolitinib dose and spleen size remained stable. In patients with myelofibrosis, luspatercept improved anemia and transfusion burden across cohorts; the safety profile was consistent with previous studies. This trial was registered at www.ClinicalTrials.gov as #NCT03194542.

Impact of Boosted Antiretroviral Therapy on the Pharmacokinetics and Efficacy of Clopidogrel and Prasugrel Active Metabolites.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Prasugrel and clopidogrel are inhibitors of the ADP-P2Y12 platelet receptor used in acute coronary syndrome patients. They require bioactivation via isoenzymes such as cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4, CYP2C19 and CYP2B6. Ritonavir and cobicistat are potent CYP3A inhibitors, prescribed as pharmacokinetic (PK) enhancers in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. METHODS: In this study, the impact of boosted antiretroviral therapies (ARTs) on the PK of clopidogrel and prasugrel active metabolites (AMs), and on the efficacy of prasugrel and clopidogrel, were evaluated in a randomized crossover clinical trial. RESULTS: A significantly lower exposure to clopidogrel AM [3.2-fold lower area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) and maximum plasma concentration (Cmax)] and prasugrel AM (2.1-fold and 1.7-fold lower AUC and Cmax) were demonstrated in HIV-infected patients treated with boosted ARTs compared with healthy controls; however, a differential impact was observed on platelet inhibition between clopidogrel and prasugrel. Clopidogrel 300 mg induced adequate (although modest) platelet inhibition in all healthy subjects, while platelet inhibition was insufficient in 44% of HIV patients. On the contrary, prasugrel 60 mg induced a potent platelet inhibition in both healthy and HIV-infected subjects. CONCLUSION: Prasugrel appears to remain an adequate antiplatelet agent in HIV-infected patients and could be preferred to clopidogrel in this context, regardless of the metabolic interaction and inhibition of its bioactivation pathways.

Prediction of drug-drug interactions using physiologically-based pharmacokinetic models of CYP450 modulators included in Simcyp software.

In recent years, physiologically based PharmacoKinetic (PBPK) modeling has received growing interest as a useful tool for the assessment of drug pharmacokinetics. It has been demonstrated to be informative and helpful to quantify the modification in drug exposure due to specific physio-pathological conditions, age, genetic polymorphisms, ethnicity and particularly drug-drug interactions (DDIs). In this paper, the prediction success of DDIs involving various cytochrome P450 isoenzyme (CYP) modulators namely ketoconazole (a competitive inhibitor of CYP3A), itraconazole (a competitive inhibitor of CYP3A), clarithromycin (a mechanism-based inhibitor of CYP3A), quinidine (a competitive inhibitor of CYP2D6), paroxetine (a mechanism-based inhibitor of CYP2D6), ciprofloxacin (a competitive inhibitor of CYP1A2), fluconazole (a competitive inhibitor of CYP2C9/2C19) and rifampicin (an inducer of CYP3A) were assessed using Simcyp® software. The aim of this report was to establish confidence in each CYP-specific modulator file so they can be used in the future for the prediction of DDIs involving new victim compounds. Our evaluation of these PBPK models suggested that they can be successfully used to evaluate DDIs in untested scenarios. The only noticeable exception concerned a quinidine inhibitor model that requires further improvement. Additionally, other important aspects such as model validation criteria were discussed.

Usefulness of PBPK Modeling in Incorporation of Clinical Conditions in Personalized Medicine.

Personalized medicine aims to determine the most adequate treatment and dose regimen to obtain the maximum efficacy and minimum side effect by taking into account patients' characteristics. For numerous reasons, one being ethical and methodological hurdles in including specific populations in clinical trials, innovative methods for optimization of drugs safety and efficacy in such patients have received increasing interest recently. Physiological-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling has emerged as a promising approach in designing adequate clinical trials and quantifying anticipated changes in unknown clinical situations. In this review, current state of knowledge on the usefulness of PBPK modeling in estimation of drug exposure in specific medical conditions including pregnancy, pediatrics, elderly, patients with liver or renal impairment, obesity, and following bariatric surgery were outlined. Modulations of key system parameters occurring in these patient populations were illustrated. Furthermore, the application of PBPK approach in dose recommendations and quantification of drug exposure in carriers of genetic polymorphisms was summarized. Despite the uncertainties and knowledge gaps related to parameters influencing drugs bioavailability in each clinical condition, PBPK models provide a valuable support for prospective dose recommendations and efficacy/safety assessment in special populations when consistent clinical data are lacking.

Characterization of oxycodone in vitro metabolism by human cytochromes P450 and UDP-glucuronosyltransferases.

The hepatic metabolism of oxycodone by cytochromes P450 (CYP) and the UDP-glucuronosyltransferases (UGT), the main metabolic enzymes of phase I and phase II, respectively, was assessed in vitro. The N-demethylation by CYP3A4/5 and the O-demethylation by CYP2D6 in human liver microsomes (HLM) followed Michaelis-Menten kinetics, with intrinsic clearances of 1.46µL/min/mg and 0.35µL/min/mg, respectively. Although noroxycodone and oxymorphone mainly contribute to the elimination of oxycodone, the simulated total in vivo clearance using in vitro phase I metabolism was underestimated. For the first time, metabolism of oxycodone by UGT was deeply investigated using HLM, recombinant enzymes and selective inhibitors. Oxycodone-glucuronide was mainly produced by UGT2B7 (Km=762±153µM, Vmax=344±20 peak area/min/mg) and to a lesser extent by UGT2B4 (Km=2454±497µM, Vmax=201±19 peak area/min/mg). Finally, the kinetics of the drug-drug interactions were assessed using two CYP and UGT cocktail approaches. Incubations of HLM with phase I and phase II drug probes showed that oxycodone mainly decreased the in vitro activities of CYP2D6, CYP3A4/5, UGT1A3, UGT1A6 and UGT2B subfamily with an important impact on UGT2B7.

Intestinal permeability and P-glycoprotein-mediated efflux transport of ticagrelor in Caco-2 monolayer cells.

Ticagrelor is the unique reversible oral antiplatelet drug commercialized today. During this study, the intestinal permeability of ticagrelor and its potential P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-mediated active transport were assessed. To this end, bidirectional transport of ticagrelor was performed across Caco-2 (human epithelial colorectal adenocarcinoma) monolayer model in the presence and absence of potent P-gp inhibitor valspodar. Ticagrelor presented an apical-basolateral apparent permeability coefficient (Papp ) of 6.0 × 10-6 cm/s. On the other hand, mean efflux ratio (ER) of 2.71 was observed for ticagrelor describing a higher efflux permeability compared to the influx component. Valspodar showed a significant inhibitory effect on the efflux of ticagrelor suggesting involvement of P-gp in its oral disposition. Co-incubation of the P-gp inhibitor decreased the efflux Papp of ticagrelor from 1.60 × 10-5 to 1.13 × 10-5 cm/s and decreased its ER by 70%. Results suggest a modest active transport of ticagrelor by P-gp across the Caco-2 cell monolayer. The co-administration of ticagrelor with a P-gp inhibitor seems altogether unlikely to have an extended impact on pharmacokinetics of ticagrelor and cause bleeding events in patients.

Detection by UPLC/ESI-TOF-MS of alkaloids in three Lycopodiaceae species from French Polynesia and their anticholinesterase activity.

Three Lycopodiaceae species from French Polynesia, Lycopodium venustulum C. Gaudichaud, Lycopodiella cernua (C. Linnaeus) R. E. Pichi Sermolli and Lycopodium henryanum E. D. Brown were investigated for their alkaloidal composition by UHPLC/ESI-TOF-MS. Ten alkaloids were identified, with lycopodine and lycodoline being the main constituents in the three species. The acetylcholinesterase-inhibitory activities of the three species are probably due to the occurrence of huperzine A, huperzine B, huperzine E, huperzinine and lycopodine.