Influence of concomitant food intake on the gastrointestinal absorption of fluconazole and itraconazole in Japanese subjects.

The effect of food intake on the pharmacokinetics of orally administered fluconazole or itraconazole was investigated in a single-dose randomized two-way crossover study in Japanese subjects. 100-mg capsules of fluconazole or itraconazole were given to two parallel groups, each of 12 male and female volunteer subjects, and plasma concentrations of the antimycotics were determined by specific assays. Gastric pH and gastric emptying times were measured by coadministration of a radiotelemetric pH capsule. Intersubject variations in drug plasma concentrations were found to be much higher with itraconazole than with fluconazole. The coefficient of variation of the AUC (0-72) after food amounted to +/- 62% for itraconazole and +/- 16% for fluconazole. The consumption of a heavy breakfast significantly delayed the tmax of both drugs by approximately two hours (p < 0.05). This effect was accompanied by a significant prolongation of gastric emptying times (p < 0.0001). Food intake had essentially no effect on the absorbed amounts of fluconazole. The median relative bioavailability (postprandial vs fasting) based on AUC (0-72) was f = 0.99, with an individual range from 0.72 to 1.15. The corresponding Cmax ratio was 1.04 (range 0.91-1.17). The effect of food on the bioavailability of itraconazole was highly variable: it ranged from marked reductions (f = 0.35) to large increases (f = 3.74) of the AUC (0-72), at a median ratio of f = 1.23. The Cmax ratios postprandial vs fasting ranged between 0.27 and 5.71 (median = 1.04). It is concluded that food had an unpredictable effect on the extent of itraconazole absorption.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)