Metformin and daclatasvir: absence of a pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic drug interaction in healthy volunteers.

AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the proposed organic cation transporter (OCT) inhibitor daclatasvir on the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the OCT substrate metformin. METHODS: This was an open-label, two-period, randomized, crossover trial in 20 healthy subjects. Treatment A consisted of metformin and treatment B consisted of metformin + daclatasvir. Pharmacokinetic curves were recorded at steady-state. Geometric mean ratios (GMRs) with 90% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for metformin area under the concentration-time curve from 0 h to 12 h (AUC0-12 ), maximum plasma concentration (Cmax ) and final plasma concentration (Clast ). An oral glucose tolerance test was performed, measuring insulin, glucose and lactate levels. RESULTS: The GMRs (90% CI) of metformin AUC0-12 , Cmax and Clast (B vs. A) were 109% (102-116%), 108% (101-116%) and 112% (103-122%). The geometric mean AUC0-2 for insulin, glucose and lactate during treatments A and B were 84 h. mEl-1 and 90 h. mEl-1 , 13.6 h. mmol l-1 and 13.4 h. mmol l-1 , and 3.4 h. mmol l-1 and 3.5 h. mmol l-1 , respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Bioequivalence analysis showed that daclatasvir does not influence the pharmacokinetics of metformin in healthy subjects. Pharmacodynamic parameters were also comparable between treatments.

Therapeutic drug monitoring of nevirapine in resource-limited settings.

BACKGROUND: We developed a simple and inexpensive thin-layer chromatography (TLC) assay for semiquantitative detection of saliva concentrations of nevirapine in resource-limited settings. The method was validated in an African target population. METHODS: Paired plasma and saliva nevirapine concentrations were assayed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); saliva concentrations of nevirapine were also assayed by TLC. The rate of false-positive results was the proportion of subtherapeutic nevirapine saliva and plasma concentrations determined by HPLC that were judged to be therapeutic in saliva specimens by TLC. The rate of false-negative results was the proportion of therapeutic nevirapine saliva and plasma concentrations determined by HPLC that were judged to be subtherapeutic in saliva specimens by TLC. The extent of agreement in TLC readings between 5 technicians and 2 batches of TLC sheets was evaluated. RESULTS: Twenty-five (9%) of 286 African adults had a subtherapeutic plasma nevirapine concentration. The median ratio of nevirapine concentrations in saliva to those in plasma was 0.51:1. The rate of false-positive results for TLC was 0% (0 of 23 specimens) when TLC results were compared with HPLC results for saliva specimens and 8% (2 of 25 specimens) when TLC results were compared with HPLC results for plasma specimens. The rate of false-negative results for TLC was 1% (3 of 263 specimens) when TLC results were compared with HPLC results for saliva specimens and 1% (3 of 261 specimens) when TLC results were compared with HPLC results for plasma specimens. The extent of agreement of TLC results was substantial for the 5 technicians (Fleiss's kappa = 0.77) and for the 2 batches of sheets (Cohen's kappa = 0.80). CONCLUSIONS: The TLC assay was found to be sensitive, specific, and robust in the detection of subtherapeutic nevirapine concentrations in saliva specimens obtained from African HIV-infected adults. It is an attractive alternative to HPLC for therapeutic drug monitoring of nevirapine in resource-limited settings.