Alcohol Inhibits Drug Metabolism by Carboxylesterases

Inhibition of Carboxylesterase Metabolism by Ethanol

The purpose of this study is to determine if alcohol is able the affect the body's ability to eliminate two commonly used medication, oseltamivir and aspirin. We hypothesize that drinking alcohol may reduce the body's ability to break down these two medications along with many others.This could affect the amount of drug in the blood which could impact how well these drugs work and whether patients have side effects.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Drug Interactions
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Placebo; Drug: Oseltamivir; Drug: Ethanol; Drug: Aspirin

Detailed Description

Carboxylesterases are enzymes that metabolize a growing number of commonly used medications. In humans, two carboxylesterases, carboxylesterase-1 (hCE1) and carboxylesterase-2 (hCE2), found primarily in the liver and intestine respectively, play an important role in the biotransformation of numerous classes of commonly used drugs containing ester groups including ACE inhibitors, anticancer agents, opiate analgesics, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins), CNS stimulants, antiviral medications, and antiplatelet agents.

Factors affecting the activity of carboxylesterases would be expected to markedly alter the pharmacokinetics and clinical effects of substrate drugs. One key factor that could affect catalytic activity is drug interactions that inhibit carboxylesterase function. The importance of inhibition of drug metabolism in medication safety and efficacy is well established for drugs that undergo metabolism by cytochrome P450 enzymes. In distinct contrast, little is known about the potential for carboxylesterases to serve as a target for metabolic inhibition mediated by drug interactions.

It is well established that ethanol is an inhibitor of cocaine metabolism, a drug that is eliminated by carboxylesterase hydrolysis. We propose that the ethanol-mediated inhibition of carboxylesterases activity demonstrated with cocaine metabolism will occur with other substrate drugs. This has widespread implications because of the large number of drugs that are carboxylesterase substrates. In the United States, over 100 million people consume ethanol making co-ingestion with carboxylesterase substrate drugs a common occurrence. We believe that this is a prevalent drug interaction that is largely overlooked and has not been systematically evaluated, but may importantly affect the disposition, safety, and efficacy of these medications. To address this gap, we will evaluate the effect of ethanol on the disposition of oseltamivir, an hCE1 substrate, and aspirin, an hCE2 substrate, in humans.

Normal healthy volunteers will report to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Clinical Research Center (CRC) for a 10 hour stay on four separate days and receive each of the following treatments in random order:

1. Oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) 150 mg. Subjects will drink orange juice (about 10 ounces although the amount may vary slightly based on weight) over 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes after drinking the orange juice, subjects will receive two (2) 75 mg capsules of oseltamivir with 5 ounces of water. Blood samples (1 teaspoonful) to determine the amount of oseltamivir in blood will be collected before the dose and 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 6.0, 8.0, 10, and 24 hours hours after the dose. Subjects will be allowed to leave the CRC after the 10 hour blood sample is collected and return the following day for the 24 hour sample.
2. Oseltamivir (Tamiflu®) 150 mg + Ethanol. In this phase, subjects will drink the same amount of orange juice over 15 minutes that will now have ethanol (alcohol) added. The amount of ethanol that will be added is calculated to achieve a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 g/dl, which is considered to be legally intoxicated. Fifteen minutes after drinking the orange juice + ethanol, subjects will receive two (2) 75 mg capsules of oseltamivir with 5 ounces of water. Blood samples will be collected at the same times as above. An additional blood sample (1 teaspoonful) for determining the blood alcohol concentration will be collected 30 minutes after drinking the orange juice + ethanol.
3. Aspirin 650 mg. Subjects will drink orange juice (about 10 ounces although the amount may vary slightly based on your weight) over 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes after drinking the orange juice, they will take two (2) 325 mg aspirin tablets with 5 oz of water. Blood samples to determine the amount of aspirin in the blood will be collected before the aspirin dose and at 10, 20, and 30 minutes after the dose and at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 hours after the dose.
4. Aspirin 650 mg + Ethanol. In this phase, subjects will drink the same amount of orange juice over 15 minutes that will now have ethanol (alcohol) added. The amount of ethanol that will be added is calculated to achieve a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 g/dl, which is considered to be legally intoxicated. Fifteen minutes after drinking the orange juice + ethanol, subjects will take two (2) 325 mg aspirin tablets with 5 ounces of water. Blood samples (1 teaspoonful) to determine the amount of aspirin in the blood will be collected before the aspirin dose and at 10, 20, and 30 minutes after the dose and at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 hours after the dose.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 19
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Tennessee
    • Memphis, Tennessee, United States, 38163
      • University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 45 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy volunteers ages 21-45 with no chronic medical or psychiatric conditions
• social ethanol drinker

Exclusion Criteria:

• allergy or hypersensitivity to oseltamivir or aspirin
• concomitant medication treatment (either prescription, over the counter, herbals, or supplements such as vitamins
• co-existing diseases affecting cardiovascular, hepatic, renal, pulmonary, hematologic, or gastrointestinal function
• platelet count < 100,000, hematocrit < 30
• chronic psychiatric disorder
• score >2 on the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST)
• naive to alcohol ingestion, have a family history of alcohol dependence, or history of adverse responses to alcohol
• women with known pregnancy, lactation, or not using and effective method of birth control (subjects taking oral contraceptives will be excluded)
• ingestion of alcohol or caffeine during the study
• participation in another drug study or blood donation within the preceding weeks.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Oseltamivir & Placebo; Oseltamivir 150 mg orally will be administered 15 minutes after subjects consume orange juice	Drug: Placebo; Orange juice administered 15 minutes before subjects take oseltamivir or aspirin; Other Names: Tropicana orange juice; Drug: Oseltamivir; Oseltamivir 150 mg orally; Other Names: Tamiflu
Experimental: Oseltamivir & Ethanol; Oseltamivir 150 mg and ethanol targeted to blood alcohol concentration 0.08 g/dl	Drug: Oseltamivir; Oseltamivir 150 mg orally; Other Names: Tamiflu; Drug: Ethanol; Ethanol will be mixed with orange juice and subjects will drink the mixture 15 minutes before receiving oseltamivir or aspirin; Other Names: Ethanol plus Tropicana orange juice
Active Comparator: Aspirin & Placebo; Aspirin 650 mg orally will be administered 15 minutes after subjects consume orange juice	Drug: Placebo; Orange juice administered 15 minutes before subjects take oseltamivir or aspirin; Other Names: Tropicana orange juice; Drug: Aspirin; Aspirin 650 mg orally will be given
Experimental: Aspirin & Ethanol; Aspirin 650 mg and ethanol targeted to blood alcohol concentration 0.08 g/dl	Drug: Ethanol; Ethanol will be mixed with orange juice and subjects will drink the mixture 15 minutes before receiving oseltamivir or aspirin; Other Names: Ethanol plus Tropicana orange juice; Drug: Aspirin; Aspirin 650 mg orally will be given

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Area under the plasma concentration-time curve	For determining if ethanol inhibits hCE1 or hCE2, the primary pharmacokinetic parameter of interest will be the area under the plasma concentration-time curve from time zero to infinity (AUC0-∞) for oseltamivir phosphate and acetylsalicylic acid, respectively. Other pharmacokinetic parameters that will be characterized are maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), time to reach the maximum plasma concentration (tmax), and the elimination rate constant λz. This same pharmacokinetic analysis will also be applied to the oseltamivir carboxylate and salicylic acid metabolites. The change in the metabolite formation clearance (∆Clf) for each agent will be calculated as the ratio of the metabolite to parent AUC0-∞ when given with ethanol (inh) and alone (con) as follows: ΔClf = [AUCm/AUCp]inh/[AUCm/AUCp]con	Oseltamivir 0-24 hrs; Aspirin 0-8 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Tennessee
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Robert B Parker, PharmD, University of Tennessee Health Science Center; Principal Investigator: Steven C Laizure, PharmD, University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 13, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 15, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): October 16, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 16, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 15, 2012
• Last Verified: October 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: pharmacokinetics; alcohol; human carboxylesterase-1; human carboxylesterase-2
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Anti-Infective Agents, Local; Anti-Infective Agents; Central Nervous System Depressants; Peripheral Nervous System Agents; Antiviral Agents; Enzyme Inhibitors; Analgesics; Sensory System Agents; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Antirheumatic Agents; Fibrinolytic Agents; Fibrin Modulating Agents; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; Antipyretics; Ethanol; Aspirin; Oseltamivir
• Other Study ID Numbers: R15GM096074 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)