Rectal Administration of Ibuprofen: Comparison of Enema and Suppository Form.

Ibuprofen is a widely used and well-tolerated analgesic and antipyretic. It is desirable to have a formulation with a rapid rate of absorption because it is required for rapid pain relief and temperature reduction. Previous studies have described the pharmacokinetic profiles of ibuprofen suppository and the mean peak times of ibuprofen suppository were around 1.8 hours, indicating a slower rate of absorption. The aim of this study is to compare the pharmacokinetic parameters of rectal administration of ibuprofen between enema and suppository form in order to provide evidence for the faster absorption rates of ibuprofen enema. This study was a phase-1 clinical study, open-label, randomized and two-way crossover with one-week washout period comparing the absorption profile of equal dose of ibuprofen administered rectally in two treatment phases: ibuprofen suppository and enema. Blood samples were collected post dose for pharmacokinetic analyses. Tmax was analyzed using a Wilcoxon matched paired test. A standard ANOVA model, appropriate for bioequivalence studies was used and ratios of 90% confidence intervals were calculated. This study showed that Tmax for ibuprofen enema was less than half that of ibuprofen suppository (median 40 min vs. 90 min, respectively; p-value=0.0003). Cmax and AUC0-12 for ibuprofen enema were bioequivalent to ibuprofen suppository, as the ratio of test/reference=104.52%, 90% CI 93.41-116.95% and the ratio of test/reference=98.12%, 90%CI 93.34-103.16%, respectively, which fell within 80-125% bioequivalence limit. The overall extent of absorption was similar to the both, which were all well tolerated. In terms of Tmax, Ibuprofen enema was absorbed twice as quickly as from ibuprofen suppository. Therefore it is expected that an ibuprofen enema may provide faster onset of analgesic and antipyretic benefit.

A bioequivalence study of two telmisartan 80 mg tablets in healthy Indonesian subjects: an open label, three-way, three-period, partial replicate crossover study.

Telmisartan is highly variable drug indicated for treatment of hypertension. This study aimed to compare the bioavailability of two 80 mg telmisartan tablets in healthy Indonesian subjects. A randomized, open-label, single-dose, three-sequence, three-way, reference-formulation-replicated crossover study was conducted under fasting period with two-week washout period. In this study, 31 Indonesian subjects were enrolled and 28 subjects were completed the study. Serial blood samples were collected up to 72 h following drug administration. Plasma concentrations of telmisartan were determined using high-performance liquid chromatography method with fluorescence detector. The pharmacokinetic parameters of AUC0- t , AUC0-∞, and C max were assessed for bioequivalence. Bioequivalence acceptance was based on predefined criteria of 90% confidence interval (CI) of 80.00-125.00% for AUC parameters and reference-scaled-average bioequivalence of 71.73-139.42% for C max. The 90% CI for AUC0- t , AUC0-∞, and C max was 96.11-107.25%, 93.06-104.36%, and 94.23-127.01%, respectively. These results indicated that the two formulations of telmisartan were bioequivalent.

Efficacy and tolerability of a nutraceutical combination of red yeast rice, guggulipid, and chromium picolinate evaluated in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

Hypercholesterolemia is the major risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease. Coronary heart disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in many countries worldwide. An increasing attention is now paid to nutraceuticals development for prevention and cure of dyslipidemia, especially for patients who do not wish to use chemical statins. The cholesterol lowering effect and the tolerability of NutraforChol®, a nutraceutical product containing red yeast rice extract, guggulipid extract and chromium picolinate, was evaluated on subjects who had total cholesterol level 200-239 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol level 100-159 mg/dL. In this study, a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study which consisted of 4 weeks run-in period and 8 weeks treatment period was performed. Based on the study results, NutraforChol® effectively decreased total cholesterol (-15.9 %) and LDL level (-19.9 %) after two weeks consumption. The total cholesterol and LDL reduction were maintained during 8 weeks study period. At study termination (week 8), there was a significant difference between total cholesterol level of NutraforChol® treated group (173.5 ± 21.7 mg/dL) and placebo-treated group (204.5 ± 22.8 mg/dL) (p < 0.05). In addition, there was a significant difference between LDL level at week 8 in NutraforChol® group (115.5 ± 22.2 mg/dL) and placebo-treated group (145.1 ± 23.7 mg/dL) (p < 0.05). The tolerability of NutraforChol® was also evaluated. There were no significant changes (p > 0.05) on renal and liver function parameters between baseline and study termination. Thus, NutraforChol® may be considered as a complementary or alternative safe nutraceuticals for the treatment of mild dyslipidemic subjects.

Bioequivalence of two memantine tablet formulations in healthy Indonesian subjects.

AIM: To compare the bioequivalence of two 10-mg memantine tablet formulations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 19 subjects were included in this single-dose, open-label, randomized, two-way crossover study following an overnight fast. A 5-week washout period was applied. Blood samples were collected up to 72 hours following drug administrations. Plasma memantine concentrations were determined by LC-MS/MS. The pharmacokinetic parameters AUC0-72h and Cmax were calculated and used for bioequivalence evaluation after log-transformation. RESULTS: The point estimates and 90% confidence intervals for AUC0-72h and CCmax for memantine were 100.72% (97.43 - 104.13%) and 101.46% (97.15 - 105.96%), respectively. CONCLUSION: These results indicated that the two formulations of memantine were bioequivalent; therefore, they may be prescribed interchangeably.

Study on bioequivalence of beraprost in healthy volunteers by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.

Beraprost sodium is an oral prostacyclin analog that was first approved in 1992 (Japan) for the treatment of peripheral vascular disorders. It is administered orally as a tablet available in strength 20 µg. In this paper, we described a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method that was developed for the quantification of beraprost in human plasma with high sensitivity at picogram per milliliter concentration. The method had been validated in terms of selectivity, sensitivity, accuracy and precision, matrix effect, linearity, recovery and carry-over according to the Guideline on Bioanalytical Validation from the European Medicines Agency. The standard calibration curve for beraprost was 9.5-1419 pg/mL. This method has been applied successfully to a bioequivalence study with 60 µg of beraprost (three tablets) in 29 healthy volunteers. The results showed that the two formulations of beraprost are bioequivalent.