title: Bioequivalence study of alpha-dihydroergocryptine: utility of metabolite evaluation.
abstract: Metabolite assessment is an open question in bioequivalence studies. In situations of low absorption, high first-pass metabolism, and intrasubject variability, metabolites may reflect absorption more adequately than the parent drug, and their determination may help decision-making in bioequivalence issues. Treating alpha-dihydroergocryptine (DHECT) as a model, we used both unchanged DHECT and a pool of DHECT metabolites to evaluate the bioequivalence of 2 oral DHECT formulations (reference-R and test-T) in 12 subjects. DHECT and its metabolites were immunoassayed. There was no difference between the 2 formulations in terms of the AUC0-infinity (area under the curve) values determined from unchanged DHECT or DHECT with metabolites profiles: 572 +/- 490 pg/ml.h (R) and 442 +/- 276 pg/ml.h (T) for unchanged DHECT, and 7,141 +/- 2,936 pg/ml.h (R) and 6,941 +/- 1,462 pg/ml.h (R) for DHECT with metabolites. Confidence intervals were within the ranges 0.8-1.25 (AUC0-infinity) and 0.7-1.43 (Cmax) for DHECT with metabolites but not for unchanged DHECT. This study describes a particular case where only measurements on the basis of the metabolites can justify the assumption of bioequivalence.
authors.affiliation: CEA, Service de Pharmacologie et d'Immunologie, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ezan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ardouin
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Delhotal Landes
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Flouvat
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hanslik
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Legeai
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Grognet
mesh_terms: D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D000328:Adult; D002110:Caffeine / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004088:Dihydroergotoxine / Q000097:blood / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013810:Therapeutic Equivalency
chemical_list: D000317:Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D004088:Dihydroergotoxine; D002110:Caffeine